Another Beginning
by WillySmith1510
Summary: Non-canon (duh). Kouichi found himself went back in time before the calamity began. With the knowledge of what happened, as well as the identity of the Extra one, will Kouichi have what it takes to stop the calamity and save his friends once and for all?
1. Another Beginning

It's over.

Everything's over.

At least, for now.

The 'Extra' one has returned to death,

As well as my sanity...

My aunt...Reiko-san...why?

Why, why must all of this happened?

Why the curse? Why our school? Why our class?

Why our friends? Why our relatives? Why someone we loved?

It makes no sense at all.

Just because the dead won't rest, why the living must die in their places?

The calamity, it happened again and again, costing numerous lives that should still be living.

Even though we could stop it, as I have did, there's no way I could did it under normal circumstances.

No one else could.

Had it not been from Mei Misaki and her ability to figure out the 'Extra' one, nobody could've stop the calamity.

Heck, it's like life itself doesn't want us to live.

What did we do wrong? Why must we suffer?

It. Doesn't. Make. Any. Sense.

Most of the deceased; Yukari, Sanae, Ikuo, Kubodera-sensei, Junta, Yumi, Takako, Tomohiko, even...Izumi. They were all someone close to me.

They didn't deserve to die.

Damn it. Damn it all.

If I can just...go back.

Before it all happened...

I could stop it.

I...already know who's the extra one...

I can stop it, I can prevent all of this...

Yeah, keep dreaming, Kouichi...

You're not gonna change anything...none of us can...

_It just happens._

Chibiki, the librarian, once told me like that.

So, am I suppose to accept that everything just happens? Like it's just a simple everyday occurrences?

Hell, no!

This isn't Final Destination! This isn't some horror-flick movie! This is -our- lives we're talking about! Pointless deaths for nothing!? It can't be possible!

I don't believe it. I won't believe it.

There has to be an answer to this.

I can't...I can't accept it like this...

It's true, me and Misaki, along with Naoya, Yuuya and a few others survived.

But what about Izumi? What about Yukari? What about the others who didn't make it?

It's unfair. Just unfair.

Even if we survived, how could we forget about their deaths?

Our friends, they died trying to survive.

They died blaming, hating, and eventually killing each other.

We _survived._

Hell, if I knew it would end like this, then I don't want to survive.

I killed my own aunt to survive, I failed to save most of my friends.

Who would want that kind of life?

A survivor, torn by the guilt of his dying friends, cursed to live on remembering the tragic fates that befall them. A lifeless life taken from others.

What a fucked-up life that I have.

* * *

"Sakakibara-kun...Sakakibara-kun? Kouichi?"

A low, gentle voice I'm familiar with spoken, awakened me to reality.

"What's wrong, Kouichi?" Mei Misaki, now an elegant lady at the age of 24, and my lovely wife, asked me.

"It was nothing, I'm just...I'm just remembering something..." I said.

It has been nine years, hasn't it?

"Have you seen Izumi-chan? I can't find her anywhere." Mei asked me.

"She's probably out in the local park, playing with that idiot Naoya like usual. Still can't believe she called him 'Uncle'." I told her.

Oh yeah, we had a great daughter together. We named her Izumi, after...well, you probably know.

Izumi...I can't forget about, no, _we _can't forget about her.

She's...she meant a lot to both of us.

Granted, she tried to kill us in the end, but that's because she's desperate. Desperate because none of her methods to stop the calamity worked. You wouldn't know how it feel, when you are responsible for your entire class's safety, and you can't do anything to save them. It's just...downright cruel.

Nobody is strong enough to face this...

She tried, tried so hard, yet it was all for nothing. Even her life was taken away.

And I...I let her down...both of us let her down.

Had I and Mei bother to tell her about Mei's ability to discover the Extra one, we could've ended the calamity even before going on a trip. It would be hard, but at least some lives could've been saved, _she _could've been saved.

But I did nothing, we did nothing.

And she paid the price of our failure with her life.

Damn it, even in her last moments, I couldn't even make her happy...

_"You're...you're so cruel...you're supposed to say you remember..."_

Tears started flowing down my eyes again.

Mei, who noticed them, probably figured out that I needed some time alone, then left the room to find Izumi, but not before turning the television on for me to watch.

The channel on TV is broadcasting news.

"This evening, a young female student was found dead inside the Yomi North gym. The witnesses, her friends, told that the dead student, Sakari Yoshino from Class 3-3, was practicing basketball when suddenly, the lamp on the ceiling got loose and fell directly on top of her, killing her almost instantly..."

Not a surprise.

It's actually like a routine now.

Every year, since the beginning of that year's term, there's always news of freak accidents, which _somehow_ cost the lives of students from the Class 3-3 of Yomiyama North Junior High, and their relatives, too.

_"Fujioka Takizawa, electrocuted to death while attempting to fix the sound system."_

_"Suzuki Noriega, got hit by an out-of-control car."_

_"Kazuya Ryuji, burned to death due to an explosion caused by a gas leak..."_

Why didn't they just tear down that goddamn school already...damn it.

My memories started to vague about the incident nine years ago, our class, but I still remember about the clue to stop the calamity planted by Naoya.

Well, I don't know if it really works, but after some time into the school term. the deaths stopped.

All of us assumed that it really worked, killing the Extra one really did stop the calamity.

But...there's always someone who didn't make it.

There's always someone who has to die.

Every year, there are deaths, just like this year. Even the year with the lowest casualties has about five deaths in total, _not_ including the relatives.

Chibiki, who's still working as a librarian there, told us.

I tried to persuade Mei, who has the ability to see the Extra one, to help out the students, but she refused.

"Even if I could show them who's the Extra one, I can't prove it. They wouldn't believe me, and even if they _did _believe me, they wouldn't want to kill one of their classmates, or even teachers, or even their family members. You of all people should know this, Sakakibara-kun."

"So, how can they figure out who's the Extra one, then?" I asked.

"They _can't_." Mei just gave me a short, simple reply.

So, here I am, lying in this bed watching the news about people's deaths helplessly. There's no way I can help them, no way we can help them.

None at all...

...Let it go by, and hoped that everything will get better eventually.

That was all that we can do...

False hope, cruel mercy.

I slowly closed my eyes again.

If I can just...go back...and stop all of this...

If I can just go back and meet with Yomiyama Misaki face to face, and beat him up for all the crap he did to us...

Why don't you just _stay_ dead, you bastard?

.

.

.

.

.

.

* * *

.

.

.

.

.

What?

What just happened?

Ow! My head!

Where the hell am I?

"How do you feel? Are you in pain?" A voice came from beside me.

"...what?"

Hey, I recognize that voice.

I looked to the right.

_It can't be..._

_No...it's impossible..._

_What the hell happened?_

Reiko Mikami, my aunt, is sitting right beside me, looking at me with a concerned face.

_She should've been...!_

"What the hell!? How could-!" I screamed out, trying to get out of the bed.

My grandma, who I've just noticed, then stood up and hold my arm.

"What's wrong, Kouichi-kun!? Are you hurt or something?! Should I call the doctor?!"

She asked me, showing a horrified face.

I tried to get up from the bed, which I just realized that it was a hospital bed, but Reiko hold me down.

"No! You can't do that, Kouichi-kun! You're not healed yet! If you did that, it may worsened your condition!"

Hell, forget about my condition! It's _you_ who should be worried about yourself!

"The nurse's here!"

I glanced at the door, and saw the unbelievable.

"Nurse Sanae?!"

_What the hell!?_

_But...you're already...!_

"Hold still, Kouichi-kun! Don't worry, I'm here! Just stay still!"

I did as she commanded, still shocked from what I just saw.

"Right. Now, that's a good boy." She smiled, which creeps me out somewhat.

Reiko sighed loudly.

"Whew! You freaked me out, Kouichi! Don't do something like that again! You're gonna give me a heart attack!"

Heck, I'm even more freaked out than you are!

How the hell could you and Nurse Sanae be still alive!?

I...

"What happened, Kouichi-kun? Are you sick or something? Should we leave you alone for a while?" Reiko asked me kindly.

"...I...I think I'd like that...Reiko-san..." I said miserably, trying to piece my mind together, to no avail.

Reiko just smiled at me.

"Come on, grandma. Let's leave Kouichi alone for a bit. I think he needed some more rest."

Reiko and grandma then left the room, leaving me alone with Nurse Sanae.

"Hold still, Kouichi-kun. You're not healed yet, so don't do any sudden movements, okay? Now, get some sleep, maybe I'll find even more mystery books for you later!"

She gave me a cheerful look, then walked to the door.

"Oh! By the way, some friends from your new school will be visiting this evening. They're worried about you, you know? So treat them well! Deal?"

Friends? What friends?

Before I had any chance to ask, Sanae has already left the room.

For a moment, I had a chance to think.

I looked outside the hospital window. In the distance, I saw a very familiar school.

_"That's the school you'll be attending." _

Wha?

Did I just heard that right now?

Damn, it's like a Deja vu...

Wait a minute, this isn't Deja vu! It already happened!

Memories started floating back to me.

_"I'm sure you'll get used to it in no time!"_

_"We look forward getting to know you, Kouichi!"_

_"Help each other, and work your hardest together..."_

_"So you can all graduate in prime health next March..."_

What!?

Did it really happened!? Did my wish has been fulfilled?

I looked at the nearby alarm clock on the side table.

_5:46 PM, 1998/04/25_

It DID happened!

I can't believe it!

I...I went back nine years in the past...

But...what am I supposed to do now?

_"You already know who's the Extra one. Sent her back to death, and get this over with."_

What the hell!?

Who's there!?

_"This is what you wanted, isn't it? You have the power to save them now. Now, use it. Save your friends, save those you cared, end this madness once and for all."_

Whose voice is that!?

_"Time is running out, Kouichi. Hurry, before the deaths begin again. This will be your final warning..."_

Silence.

.

.

.

.

What. The. Fuck. Is. Going. On?

* * *

**Editor's note: Well, after my last Another fanfic failed so horribly I need to take it down. I guess I'll give it another try with this. Honesty, I wanted to find out what happens if there's really SOME way for Kouichi to save his friends and loved ones. I just...DAMN! They just killed 2/3 of the cast during the climax! What a screwed-up anime I've just watched...**

**At any rate, this story won't be all sunshine either, there's sure to be some downer moments. (This being Another, it wouldn't be too much of a surprise...). There will be NO deaths, but there are something far more worse than it...**

**Also, I've decided to put my another fanfic, Project Rebirth (a SAO/Angel Beats! crossover) on hold, for a while. I'm in some sort of a Writer's block due to my busy schedule. But don't worry! It'll be up and running again in a month or two! **


	2. Another Student

"Well, I'll leave you guys alone!" Nurse Sanae said cheerfully, before walking out of the room, leaving me with another three other people.

Three students, all of whom I'm _very_ familiar with...

Two girls and one boy, all shared similar serious expressions on their faces.

Izumi, Kazami, and Yukari.

I looked at the three of them, my feelings conflicted.

_Should I be happy to see them alive again? Or shocked to realize that I'm able to?_

Kazami is the first one to speak, as I recalled.

"We're students of Yomiyama North Junior High's 9th Grade, Class 3."

And this is the part where I'm supposed to say "Okay..."

I'm actually surprised that I'm able to remember all my memories prior arriving at Yomi North since April 25th. Normally, the 'survivors' who survived the calamity will often slowly lose their memories about the incident over time (and it's probably for the best. Who wants to remember the nightmares like that?), but it clearly didn't happened to me, and probably the future Mei Misaki.

"I'm Kazami. Tomohiko Kazami." He introduced himself.

Yeah, nice to meet you, again. Hopefully you don't go on rampage killing your own friends now, Kazami.

_'I have to send the death back to death, or else I'll die...'_

Painful memories started pouring inside my head again.

"This is Sakuragi." Kazami lifted his hand pointed to the brown-haired girl on his left. She's holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Ah, nice to meet you! I'm Yukari Sakuragi." She greeted me, somewhat shyly.

Damn it, Yukari. If you hadn't been, if only I followed you, if only I stopped you before you reached that goddamn stairs...before it all gone to hell.

_"It's your fault..."_

That nightmare still lingers inside my head.

Kazami pointed his hand to his right. "And this is-"

"Izumi Akazawa." The red-haired twin tail finished the sentence herself, just as I remembered.

Izumi, we meet again, for the third time in my useless life.

And I can't even remember about our first meeting.

_"You're...you're so cruel...you're supposed to say you remember..."_

My eyes twitched unintentionally.

"What's wrong, Kouichi-kun?" Yukari, who noticed it, asked me with a concerned voice.

"No, nothing." I lied. I don't want my personal traumas to worry them any more than it is right now. Especially considering the cruel fates that awaited them.

"Um, do you want something?" I asked, just as I already did nine years ago.

"Oh, yes. Sakuragi and I are class officers, and Akazawa is in charge of countermeasures. We came here as representative of class 3." Kazami explained.

Heh, countermeasures. Just thinking about it made me feel nauseous already.

_They just choose to ignore one of their friends for the whole year, and it isn't even the right solution. And even then, they're making all the wrong decisions that always ended up adding more dead bodies._

I decided to rewrite the history for a bit, and choose not to ask them about the countermeasures. It's not like they're going to explain it for me anyways.

"So, are you guys here because you wanted to check up on me or anything? I've been missing the school since last Monday, right?" I asked them.

The usually stoic Kazami made a surprised face.

Whoa, never expected that before.

"Y-yeah! We just wanted to see how you are doing. We're here on behalf of our entire class." Yukari said, then she walked up to me, before giving me the bouquet.

"Um, here. This are from all of us." She said. "You moved here from Tokyo, right?"

"Yeah, and before you asked, I transferred here for family reasons, and this is the first time I ever lived here. Though I've already been here once already, but only for a short period. I was very young back then."

This time, even the all-serious Izumi widen her eyes in surprise.

"H-how did you know what we're going to ask?" She asked me.

"Lucky guess, I think. Normally, when there's a new transfer student, you usually wanted to know more about them, right? Just so, you know, making it easier to become friends." I replied.

Genre savvy enough?

Everyone stood still for a while, not knowing what to do.

Both Izumi and Yukari looked at Kazami, who then realized that he also has something to give me.

"Oh, here." He handed me a package.

"I made you a copy of all notes from the start of the first term."

I pulled the note papers inside the package out.

"Thank you!" I said. "I think I'll go to school in early May, so I'll see you then!"

Kazami nodded in response, followed by another silence.

"Um, Sakakibara-kun..." Kazami said.

"You can call me Kouichi," I said before Izumi has a chance to speak up. "By the way, it's nice to meet you guys." I extend my right hand toward Izumi.

"I look forward getting to know you all, everyone!" I smiled a bit, trying to ease the tension in the room.

Thank the miracle, it worked. Kazami, Yukari and Izumi all gave me a slight smile.

At first Izumi was taken aback by my sudden introduction, but she finally managed to grab my hand and shake it, and this time, she has no second thoughts about my past.

"You're a very friendly person, Kouichi-kun. I think we'll all getting along just fine!" She said happily, it's the first thing that made me happy in many years.

"Well, guess that's all for today, Kouichi-kun. We hope you healed up and going to school soon." Yukari said, and the three then headed to the door.

Before they all left, I suddenly spoke out.

"Um, guys?"

They turned to look at me.

"Try to...stay away from the glass windows, balconies or...maybe umbrellas, please?"

Kazami and Yukari gave me a confused look, but Izumi managed a small smile.

"You're really an interesting person, Kouichi-kun." She said, before closing the door.

I then lie back on my bed again, trying to figure out how to fix this whole mess.

From this point on, our days are numbered, again.

If Rei-, if _that person_ really is the Extra one, then killing her will surely stop the calamity.

Nobody has to die this time.

_She _doesn't count, because she's already dead.

But...do I really have the courage to do that again?

Maybe I should've just let Mei do the job last time...No, no, no! It's better this way.

I have to do this myself, to be sure.

Wait.

_Mei..._

_Misaki..._

What about her?

Ah! I almost forgot!

I'm supposed to meet her for the first time tonight, inside the elevator!

Well, can't forget about that, right?

I mean, what's a better way than to meet your future wife on a hospital elevator going to the morgue down the basement below during midnight? Herself holding a creepy doll while acting like a ghost all the way down?

Hell no, I can't forget about that day. Still creeps me out somewhat.

Well, there's still some time left, better get a little nap before then.

I slowly closed my eyes.

* * *

_"Oh, making new friends already, Kouichi?" _

_What the? Who the hell is this?_

_"Or should I say; reconcile with old friends?"_

_What do you mean?_

_"At any rate, this newfound friendship of yours will be considerably short if you don't do something about the Extra one..."_

_Yeah..._

_"However, there is something that I must warn you, Kouichi..."_

_What, more?_

_"There is another..."_

_Wait, what?_

_What another?_

_Hey! Tell me!_

_Damn it!_

* * *

I launched myself from the bed.

What was that just now?

Just a dream?

What kind of dream was that anyways?

It's like a premonition...

I looked out of the window, it's dark now.

Aw, hell! What time is it!?

Damn it! It's almost time for me to go find Mei!

I quickly grabbed my coat before rushing out of the room.

Now, why did I decided to walking out around in the middle of the night like that last time?

Ah, yeah. I was trying to find a signal to phone my dad.

That's why I didn't notice her...in the elevator.

The hallway is just the same as it was last time...

There was an old woman walking out of the elevator, which is beginning to close its doors.

I quickly ran into it, just before the doors closed in on me.

Damn it, I _hate _elevators.

There was only one person inside it. The only one I'm expected to find. The only one I wanted to see.

Mei Misaki, in all her creepiness, stood alone at the corner of the elevator, holding her doll in her right hand.

"P-pardon me!" I blurted out.

How should I start this? Damn it. It's never been this hard to talk to her before...

Or maybe, I don't know what to talk to her. About the calamity? About the Extra one? About her other classmates treating her like she didn't exist?

Heck, I already knew all the answers about them. What's the point to ask?

So, what should I ask? Should I even talk to her at all?

"A-are you Mei Misaki from Yomi North's 9th Grade, Class 3?" I asked. A great first question for starters. (Yes, it's a sarcasm, thank you very much.)

Mei just nodded, as expected from her.

The elevator is still going down.

"Do you have something to do on the second basement level?" I asked her again, even though I already knew the answer.

"Yes...my poor other half...is waiting for me there..." She said in an emotionless voice.

The elevator finally opened.

Mei slowly walked out, into the dark hallway ahead of her.

"Wait!" I shouted after her. I have to ask her this. I have to make sure...

"Is...Ms. Mikami...your homeroom teacher...the Extra one!?" I asked the damn question I should've asked her a long time ago.

No answer, but Mei stopped walking.

She slowly turned her head around.

Did I just saw a surprised look on her face?

"How...did you...know?" She asked.

"I..." Damn it, I didn't think this through! I don't have an answer for her!

"I...I'm just wondering who's the super-extra hot homeroom teacher everyone's talking about this year! Please, don't tell her I said this!" I made stuffs up, which, of course, didn't make any sense at all...

"Oh..." Mei sighed, then continued walking.

Wow, can't believe she bought it...

"Anyways, it's nice to meet you!" I shouted after her, but she's already gone.

I walked back inside the elevator, and it closed again.

Judging by her reactions from earlier, I'd say that Reiko-san...Ms. Mikami...is the Extra one after all.

But...I'm...

Am I really going to do this?

I'm going to kill my aunt again?

But...if it can save my friends...if it can stop this goddamn calamity once and for all...

But...

There's always a but...

_Why can't I do it...?_

* * *

A month passed, and I've already been discharged from hospital.

Today's my first day at Yomi North. Well, it's not exactly _the _first day for me.

I...I can't bring myself to kill Reiko-san after all...

There's something that's been buggering me since hospital.

I've been having dreams, recurring dreams.

And in those dreams, they'll always have a same quote at the end of it.

_"There is another..."_

Another what?

Another Extra one?

Another calamity after this?

Another chance to go back to fix my mistakes?

What the hell is this!?

I was sure aunt Reiko is the Extra one, but...

But what if killing her isn't enough? What if killing her didn't stop the calamity?

But it _did _worked the last time! After about 2/3 of our class is gone!

Perhaps there's another Extra one among our friends?

But Mei said it herself back then that the only Extra one this year is Reiko-san!

Damn it, I don't know what to believe anymore.

After a morning lecture with Reiko-san. I went to Yomi North to meet with my friends, again, on the 'first' day of school for me.

"...I hope you'll be able to get along with everyone." Kubodera-sensei spoke to me while I walked to my classroom. The forever cursed Class 3-3.

"If you have any troubles at all, please don't hesitate to talk to me."

Yeah, there's no problems at all. Except if you counted how the students in your class die a horrible and painful death one by one every year a problem. As I recalled, even _you _bite the dust, sensei...

I still can't believe how the school administration can still remain calm after all this.

"You can also talk to Ms. Mikami, the assistant homeroom teacher, of course." He added.

"Yes, sir. Thank you very much." I said.

Ms. Mikami turned to face me and gave me a smile. "We look forward to having you with us!"

Heh, my life does suck, doesn't it?

We finally arrived at our class, and I have to do my introduction speech _again_.

But at least...at least I got to see everyone alive and well again, along with Mei Misaki, of course.

Only Izumi is missing. She's absent today, as I remembered.

"I moved here because of my father's job. I'm currently living with my grandparents, and, it's nice to meet all of you."

Really, I meant it. It's great to see them again.

"Please give our new friend a warm welcome, class. Help each other, and work your hardest together, so that you can all graduate in prime health next March."

Kubodera-sensei finished. I looked around. Aside from my table and the empty Izumi table, there's another vacant table near the window, just in front of Mei Misaki's desk.

What the heck? Never seen it before...

"Sakakibara, you can take the seat there." Kubodera-sensei pointed to my seat, and I walked there.

As I settled in my seat, the classroom front door suddenly opened, and a black-haired boy I've never seen before rushed into the room.

"Sorry for being late, sir!" He said.

"This is the third time this year, Misaki-kun. Any more of this, and I'm afraid I have to write to your parents about this." Kubodera-sensei warned.

Did I just heard that right? _Misaki-kun?_

The boy walked to the seat near the window.

"Yomiyama Misaki! Do you understand what Kubodera-sensei has just said?!" Ms. Mikami said disapprovingly.

"Yes, ma'am. I won't do it again."

What. The. Hell?

Yomiyama Misaki? Isn't that the name of...

Aw, fuck.

No, you've got to be kidding me.

This is impossible!

My new classmate is Yomiyama Misaki?! The one who..._started _everything!?

Nothing will be the same anymore...

* * *

**Editor's note: So, the ghost's back, right? With a vengeance! LOL. So what happens if Kouichi can't figure out who's really the Extra one? Or whether there's only one of them at all? He still have some time before the calamity takes effect on the class, and we all knew who's the first victim is going to be...**

**Stay tuned!**


	3. Another Confrontation

I swear, my heart skipped a few beats after I saw Yomiyama Misaki sitting across the room, in front of Mei Misaki's worn out desk...

_How in the world?_

I stared in awe at the black-haired boy who's supposed to be dead near the windows, my jaws dropped.

Yeah, I know. Most of people in this classroom should be dead, but he's different.

He died before I was even born!

Heck, aside from the fact that he could've be the cause of all the calamities, how the hell could he be here? And why is everyone acted so calm around him!?

Wait a second, if he's here. Then the class should be one desk short.

Does that mean...there's one person missing!?

I frantically looked around the classroom.

Five rows...six people each...

Except for the row near the windows, Misaki's row...it has _seven._

Mei's desk is pushed back behind the others, making her the only one to sit in the very back of the class.

I let out a relief sigh. At least everyone's still here.

But...what's the meaning of this?

Yomiyama Misaki, the guy who should've died about twenty or so years ago, is here.

"...Sakakibara-kun."

So that makes him the Extra one?

But...what about Ms. Mikami? Reiko-san, damn it, whatever her name is?

"...Sakakibara-kun?"

Who's the Extra one this time?

Damn it! How am I supposed to stop the calamity this time now!?

"...Sakakibara-kun! Are you paying attention!?"

Kubodera-sensei yelled out, bringing me back to reality.

"Ah! Sorry, sir!"

At any rate, I can worry about this later...there's still some time left...

_Before...Yukari's..._

"...SAKAKIBARA! FOCUS, PLEASE!"

"Sir! Paying attention now, sir!"

Damn it all...

* * *

The bell rang at last, and Kubodera-sensei walked out of the room.

Other students walked up to me and started introducing themselves, just as I remembered it.

We talked together as usual. Everyone is friendly to me, well, at least at the moment. Naoya is still the same Naoya I knew from nine years ago, always managed to crack up some laugh any time he's around.

"Nothing interesting ever happens here!" And so he announced. Oh, the irony...

Noboru and Makoto were there, as well as Aya, asking me silly questions about me and my family's backgrounds. Kazami stood behind me along with Yukari, trying to check up on my well-being. Around me, my other friends were chatting around, studying, playing, doing something like a normal student do.

Everyone is so happy...as happy as a person who knows he or she is about to die any second could.

I wish it can really stay this way for as long as possible. I wish I could see them graduate from this godforsaken school, get to do the things they wanted to do, be something they wanted to be, and moving on with their lives, just like I did.

You know what? If this whole calamity thing has taught me anything, it taught me to never waste my life. Any moment could be my last. These people here, my _friends_, most of them never got a chance to live a full life. All of the things they could be, could do, got taken away from them in the cruelest way possible...

Well, I'm here to make sure they got that chance. No matter what it takes.

"What's wrong? Is something bothering you?" Kazami asked me.

"Ah, no, nothing!" I replied. "Anyways, I wondered who's the guy who's coming in late earlier? The one whose desk is in front of Mei's..."

I stopped myself after seeing shocked faces on everyone. I almost forgot that poor Mei is still being treated as the Extra one during this time.

"I mean...the one whose desk is near the window, the last one?" I 'corrected' myself, which earned me a sigh of relief from Yukari.

"Oh, you mean that weird dude Yomiyama? You'll never find anyone as strange as him around here. He's one crazy bastard." Naoya said.

"But he's also very smart. He aces almost every test we took, always helping us doing homeworks, too. Even the teachers favored him." Yukari added.

"Not to mention that he's also an excellent athlete. He's the reason I never win the first place in any sport." Kazami adjusted his glasses.

"This guy is awesome! _And _he's single! I wanted to be his girlfriend so badly right now..." Aya giggled.

Yep, that sounds like the Yomiyama Misaki I heard of.

Perfect in every way, loved by friends and teachers. Even death can't stop him from being forgotten.

Heck, he was even named after the town and school itself.

Speaking of whom, where the heck is he now?

I glanced around the room, no sight of him anywhere.

"Um, where is Misaki-kun anyways? He's not in the class." I asked Kazami.

"Ah, he's always like this. He's not so much of a social person. He'll take any chances during breaks between classes to sneak out alone, claiming that he has something important to do. Sometimes he even skipped classes, but nobody minds him because his grades are just _that_ good. As long as he can keep his score high, he'll pass the year with no problem." Kazami explained.

"In fact, he barely talked to us. I tried to ask him about it, but he just keep excusing himself before running to somewhere." Yukari added.

"Guess that explains why that bastard keeps coming to school late every morning..." Naoya said.

So, Yomiyama Misaki is a loner? I thought he's the type of person who usually stick by his friends? Even from beyond the grave?

"Any ideas where to find him? I'd like to talk to him." I asked.

Naoya sighed. "Nobody's really sure where that guy went each time he disappeared during breaks, but some said that he can be seen on the rooftop. Don't ask me what the hell is he doing there, there's no one except him and...well...let's just say he's the only one who ever goes up there..." He glanced at Mei's desk uncomfortably.

I knew what he meant by that, because Yomiyama Misaki isn't the only one who ever goes up on the rooftop, where most people in this school try to avoid.

There's also her; the so-called Extra one Mei Misaki.

"Man, and I thought Takako is the weird one around here..."

"HEY! I HEARD THAT!" Takako, the girl with yellow-brown hair and a pair of glasses, yelled up from behind.

"I was just kidding! Sorry, where did we left off...hey, where are you going!?"

I quickly got out of my chair and head straight to the door.

"Sorry, guys! I need to go do something! I'll meet you all later during the P.E. Class!" I turned back to tell them.

"Wait!"

Too late, I already ran out of the classroom.

As I ran through the hall, I passed by a couple of students from the other class. They're chatting something.

"...you know? I saw Misaki-kun running upstairs earlier, he might've gone to the roof."

"Again? He's going to get a detention or something, skipping classes like that."

"Who cares? He's a genius! He can do anything he wants. Besides, he's in _Class 3-3. _It's not like he has anything else to lose after all...A few detentions won't matter to him."

"Don't say things like that!"

I overheard the conversation, and concluded that Yomiyama Misaki's already on the roof.

The bell rang again, signaling the end of the break and the start of the next class, but I didn't care. All I think is that I need to get to the roof and meet with Yomiyama Misaki as fast as possible.

There's...something...I need to ask him.

Questions started forming in my head.

_Who is he really?_

_Is he the one who caused all of this? A Death reincarnate? A vengeful ghost?_

_Why is he even here? He's supposed to be dead twenty or so years ago._

_By all account, he's old enough to be my dad or something!_

_Damn it, is he even real!?_

I'll get my answers soon enough, or maybe I won't.

* * *

Two more minutes, I finally arrived at the roof.

I pushed the door to the roof open, and looked outside.

The roof is still the same, with all its rusty railings and worn out floors.

There are already two people here, as I expected.

Mei Misaki is there, along with the one and the only Yomiyama Misaki, chatting to each other.

I watched them for a while, Yomiyama's back is turned to me so I didn't see his face, but I know that he's talking to Mei. Suddenly, she laughed.

Wait a sec.

Did I just see Mei Misaki..._laugh?_

Whoa, this is a chance in a lifetime.

Even after we're married, Mei rarely smiles, let alone laughs. She never really get over the fact that she was partly responsible for our friends' deaths.

"Oh..." Mei blurted out. Looks like she saw me.

"What's wrong..." Misaki turned to look, finally meeting eyes with me.

"Hey, aren't you the new student in our class?" He asked me.

"Um, yeah..." I walked up next to them. "I haven't...know you yet. You're the student who arrived late this morning, correct?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Not much of a school person, I'll admit. Yomiyama Misaki, nice to meet you. You can call me Yomiya, for short."

"Kouichi Sakakibara, nice to meet you, too. Call me Kouichi."

And we shook our hands.

His hand is warm. I remembered Izumi told me from a long time ago that the dead person's hand will feel cold, but then she dismissed her claim, because if it was that easy to identify the Extra one, no one would've died at all.

And Reiko-san, Ms. Mikami, whoever she is, everything about her feels...lively. There's nothing that could indicate that she is the dead person...

We remained silent for a while.

"Um, so, Kouichi-san, what are you doing up here? I've never seen any students come up here before, well, except me, and her." He patted Mei's head, who doesn't seem to mind at all, much to my surprise.

"You...know her?"

"What? Don't tell me you believe that crap your friends made up about the Extra one. Mei-chan's got nothing to do with that!"

What? He _knew _about that?

If he did, then he must know about the calamity, too.

Better get straight to the point.

I took a deep breath, before asking him.

"Hey, tell me, Yomiya-san. Do you know...about the curse in our class?"

That question made Mei turned to face me.

"Are you the boy from the hospital the other day, Sakakibara-kun?" She asked in a familiar low, emotionless voice.

"Yeah, we met in the elevator." I replied.

"You lied to me when you told me you didn't know about the Extra one..." She sighed.

Oops.

"Ah, well, about that..." I tried to explain, but Yomiya interrupted.

"So you knew about it, too, aren't you?"

He walked toward the railing, before climbing over them, causing Mei to scream out.

_He's about to jump? Seriously!?_

"Wait! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" I shouted. This guy seriously is about to commit suicide!?

And then he laughed for no reason.

"What? We're all going to die anyways, right? Why not now? When we can choose how to die? When we can die a quick, painless death?" He asked me.

"Are you out of your mind?! Killing yourself won't make anything better around here!" I yelled at him. What's with this guy!?

Yomiya stared at the school ground far below him, his face saddened.

"But what if it did, Kouichi-san? What if I'm the Extra one? If I die, maybe the calamity will stop and no one has to die..."

And then he climbed back in. To my surprise, Mei rushed in to him, and hug him tightly.

"You're not the Extra one...Yomiya-kun...I already know who it is...it's not you...don't do this again..." Mei's voice tembled, she was crying.

Oh, okay...now this is getting weird.

_Isn't he supposed to be dead? How come he's not the Extra one!?_

_Heck, it was his very death that started all of this in the first place!_

"Yomiya-san. If I may, can I ask you something?" I looked at him, he's still comforting Mei.

"Yeah..."

"What do you know about the calamity?" I asked.

Mei finally let Yomiya go, and he cleared his throat.

"Well, I did my research about it. Before I came to this school, I learned about the calamity from Mei, before her friends, _my _friends, treated her as the 'Extra' one per the advice from the 'countermeasure officer'. Bullshit, I'd say. There must be some other way we could do to avoid all of this, and I'm trying to figure it out. That's why I'm skipping some classes."

Yomiya glanced at Mei, she's curled up on the floor, still shocked from the prior events.

She's so...different...from the Mei Misaki I knew...

"I can't let them do this to her. It's bad enough losing her sister. She didn't deserve all this treatment..." He continued.

So, that day at the hospital, she was visiting her sister...right?

But then, she died.

It all makes sense now.

She...Mei's sister, whoever she is, she's the first victim of the calamity.

"Mei's the first friend I've made at this school, so I hold it as my responsibility to look out for her, no matter what the others treated her." Yomiya added.

So, this Yomiyama Misaki, he cared for Mei?

"I've been wondering for a while...that surname, Misaki. Do you, by any chances, related to Mei?" I asked.

"What? Having the same surname doesn't mean I have to be her brother or anything! I've just met her last month!" He argued.

Okay, they aren't related, any more surprises?

"You said that you knew about the calamity, but do you know how all of it started?"

That's it, the question that will answer everything, or make everything else even worse.

If he knew, then it's clear that he was the one who started all of this.

But if he didn't...

"I...don't know the details. I'm looking for a solution, not the cause. Why do you even ask that?" He stared at me, confirming my fear.

He doesn't have the memory of his previous life.

Looks like I have to do some more investigation.

But first, I need to tell someone about how to stop the calamity.

I've got to tell somebody, that Ms. Mikami is the Extra one.

"Listen, Yomiya-san. If you want to know everything, meet me this evening after school..." I looked at Mei, who finally stopped crying.

Damn it, she looked so miserable...

"Mei, I need you to come with me. We need to prove that you isn't the Extra one..." I said to her gently, carefully not to startle her.

I picked up my cellphone, and punched in the numbers.

"...Oi! Naoya, is that you?" I dialed Naoya. I'm amazed I can still remember his phone number, after all this time...

"Yup! What's up, Kouichi?" A familiar, cheerful voice replied.

"Do you know where Izumi Akazawa lived? I need to talk to her about something."

"...Wha? Why don't you just call her? I have her number..."

"Just listen to me, damn it! Actually, you should come with me, too. This evening, meet me at the entrance. It's very important! I need to meet her in person."

"Well, if it's Izumi-chan, how could I say no? You're on! Kouichi!"

I smiled a bit. If this thing goes right, then at least I can stop all the misunderstandings between Mei and the whole class.

At least, they won't be making the same mistake...like back at that cursed mansion...again...

"Anyways, where the heck are you! We're about to start the P.E. Class! Hey! Koui..."

Too late, I already ended the call.

_Sorry, Naoya. Participating in my first P.E. Class doesn't worth the lives of the entire class._

I stared at Yomiya and Mei, both of whom looked at me curiously.

"Now, I'll tell you everything this evening, but first, I need you to tell me your stories."

I told Yomiya.

"So...how does it feels like to be in the class that's much, much closer to death than any other classes?"

* * *

**Editor's note: Well, don't really know what to say about this chapter...**

**I know, I can write much better than this, this chapter sucks compared to the others, but due to my busy schedule...I need to finish this chapter as quick as possible, as I will not be here for a while. I'll just hope that this chapter will not disappointed you guys...**

**Any mistakes in the story, feel free to inform me. And stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	4. Another Moment of Solace

"Now, tell me again why did you bring _that _girl with us!? And Yomiya too! Seriously?! Are you out of your freaking mind!?" Naoya whispered to me nervously.

"Chill out, Naoya. You already know she isn't the Extra one. Don't play dumb." I told him.

"The hell!? You know about _that_!? H-how did...!"

I put a hand over his mouth, trying to shut him up.

"Calm down, damn it!"

Naoya tried desperately to speak through my hand.

"Hey! Lemme go!...I can't breathe!"

I finally uncovered his mouth.

"What the hell did you do that for!?"

"Because you are just too damn annoying, now shut up for a moment, will ya?" I teased him a bit, trying to ease up the tension.

It clearly didn't work.

"Izumi's gonna kill me for this..." Naoya facepalmed.

After ten more minutes, we finally arrived at Izumi's house.

It was a two-storey house, with a small garden in the front.

"Well, we're here!" Naoya said. "Just don't tell her that I'm the one who told you about her house, or she'll have my head..."

I walked up to the front door.

_Here goes nothing._ I thought, and press the alarm button.

A minute passed...

"She isn't home?" Yomiya asked.

"That's strange. I called Izumi-chan by her home number earlier. Surely she must be home!" Naoya said, before walking in front of the door.

"Maybe she's sleeping..." Mei spoke out, but nobody listen to her.

"Oi! Izumi-chan! It's me! Open up for us, will you!?" Naoya banged his fist on the door.

"Hey! You'll piss her off!" I warned him.

"Don't worry! She's-"

Too late.

The door opened up suddenly, and something flies out from behind it.

"ARRRRRGGG!" The object hit precisely on Naoya's head, sending him falling into the ground.

Izumi Akazawa stood at the front door, and she's clearly _not _happy at all.

"HOW MANY TIMES I HAVE TO TELL YOU NOT TO BANG ON THE DOOR! YOU IDIOT!" Izumi yelled out angrily.

"Told you..." I whispered to Naoya, who's knocked out cold.

The object Izumi threw out is...well...you don't wanna know. All I can say is, _ouch_. Naoya, you unlucky bastard.

"I give you one minute. Give me a reason why I shouldn't kick all your asses out of my sight right now." Izumi warned. She gave a despise look to Mei, as expected from her.

I cleared my throat. It's time to tell her.

"Kick my ass if you want, because it's gonna take more than a minute, but you need to hear this. _All of you _need to hear this..."

* * *

I told them everything.

The deaths. The truth about the calamity, as much as I know. The real Extra one. The misunderstandings about Mei Misaki, and how it all began because of Yomiyama Misaki's death twenty-six years ago.

Everyone is surprisingly calm for someone who just knew a shocked truth, even Izumi, who just knew that she's going to die, and Yomiyama, who realized that he should be already dead.

"So, am I to believe that _you_ come from the future? A future where most of our classmates died, including me?" Izumi asked, her voice trembled a little, but she remained calm.

"Yes."

"A-are you sure about all this? Are you sure it isn't some crazy kid with an evil notebook that can kill people by writing their names on it that is behind all this!?" Naoya started to panic. His face says it all; he's not taking this well.

"Yes."

"So we are to believe that _I'm _dead for twenty-six years, and that my death caused everything?" Yomiyama frowned.

"Yes."

Great, now I feel like I have become Mei Misaki.

Speaking of her, she's the last to ask me a question.

"And...you and me...got married?" She blushed a little.

Damn it, why the hell did I mentioned it!?

"Right! Right! So that's that!" Izumi interrupted, before continued. "So, are we going to just believe you? You told me you came from the future, but you don't even know how the hell did you get back here. Besides, if Ms. Mikami is the Extra one, then why is Yomiyama Misaki here? You said he's already dead, right? Maybe it's _him_ that's the Extra one. How can you be sure?" She asked me.

"He's not. Mei confirmed it. She has the ability to see who's the Extra one." I replied.

"Really? So Mei and her magic eye can see who's the dead person?" Izumi turned to face Mei. I can tell from her voice that she's getting angry now.

"Yes. I concurred what Sakakibara-kun has just said. Ms. Mikami is the Extra one, and Yomiyama-san isn't..." Mei said.

"Well, why didn't you tell me!? You could've prevented all of this! Yukari and Takako! All the others! They died because of you!" Izumi yelled furiously, before lunged toward Mei.

"Hey! Calm down!" Yomiya and I rushed to stop Izumi from attacking Mei.

Mei suddenly got up, before she did the unthinkable.

She _slapped _her.

"BECAUSE YOU NEVER GIVE ME A CHANCE, DAMN IT! YOU TOLD ME THAT I DON'T EXIST! HOW CAN YOU LISTEN TO PEOPLE WHO DON'T EXIST!? EVEN IF I DO, YOU WON'T LISTEN TO ME! NOBODY WILL LISTEN TO ME! DAMN YOU AND YOUR COUNTERMEASURE METHODS! WHY DON'T YOU ALL JUST GO TO HELL!?" Mei screamed out, her eyes tearing up.

It's like the end of the world right now.

Mei Misaki finally snapped.

I can't believe this.

Her reply stunned Izumi, whose eyes are widen in shock of what Mei just said.

"I..."

"Naoya, take Mei out of the room for a moment. Let me talk something over with Izumi." I told Naoya, who's too shocked from the situation to do anything until I called out to him.

"Ah...uh...will do, Kouichi. Hey, Mei, let's go drink some coffee, shall we?" Naoya took Mei, who finally realized what she just did, and is now in tears, out of the room.

I sighed, before turning back to Izumi.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "I-I think I want to rest a bit...after everything you and her just said...it's..."

Maybe this is all too sudden.

Maybe I'm too hard on her. I mean, she has so much to deal with right now, and now, I'm telling her that all her efforts are futile and she's going to die anyways.

Damn it, now I'm starting to feel that doing all this was a bad idea.

Izumi walked to the couch before she lie down on it.

"Don't worry about me...just...if you have anything more to talk, say it. I'm listening..." Izumi said weakly.

"I already told you everything." I said. "Now it's my turn to ask..."

I turned to face Yomiya, who's still inside staring at me.

"You're the witty one here. What's your thought about all of this? You said you're investigating about the calamity, right?"

Yomiya stood still for a moment, before he spoke up.

"Well, clearly something in the present doesn't add up to your story. You said that my death twenty-six years ago caused everything, but here I am, standing here, alive and well." He said. "Do you have anything to explain about this?"

"Ms. Mikami is dead, and she looks as alive as ever. It's just that she doesn't know that she's dead. And like I said, the memories about the dead person, as well as those around him or her, is altered, so there's no one who can tell who's really the dead person, except Mei." I explained.

"Oookay. So that means something is wrong in this timeline." Yomiya continued. "If in the timeline where you came from, I'm dead, then the timeline you're here in the present is the _alternate_ one, the one where I wasn't dead, heck, I wasn't even born twenty-six years ago! If I did, I'll probably be an old man right now."

"But how can that be possible!? I mean, even in my future, _time travelling _is still just something exist only in the movies or sci-fi novels or something!" I asked him back.

"Who knows? Maybe we're characters in one? Hell, are you sure you wasn't dreaming about all of this?! I mean, someone got into your mind and...do _something_, I don't know..."

"Haha, so funny..." Izumi said in a sarcastic tone.

"At any rate, if you really _did _go back to the past, _our _present, whatever, are you sure you're going to stop the calamity this time now? Hey, even if I'm like this, I don't want to die, you know?" Yomiya frowned.

"Well, if I wanted you guys to die, then I wouldn't bother telling you guys all this, would I?" I replied.

"Yeah. So I'm wondering, if _somehow_ you managed to prevented our deaths, what's gonna happen you? If your friends are alive, the _future_ you won't have any reason to go back here to save us, right?"

"I'm telling you, even _I _don't know how the hell did I get back here! Stop talking like Einstein!" I said in an annoyed voice. Is this guy going to ask me everything?

"Will you guys quit this crap? It's giving me headache..." Izumi complained. "Just tell me about how to stop the calamity, please."

Looks like she's back to her normal self.

"Well, as I said, the only way to stop the calamity, at least for this year, is to kill the Extra one. The tape I mentioned, the one that belonged to Matsunaga, the student in our class fifteen years earlier, contained all the details." I explained.

"So, from what you've said. The Extra one is Ms. Mikami, right? So, we need to kill her?" Izumi asked.

"I don't really like to say it, but yes, you need to kill her..." I said bitterly, knowing that I've just signed my aunt's death warrant.

But she's already dead, isn't she?

I've got to get it past me. I've got my own friends to worry about right now.

"Oops." Yomiya's face paled.

"I'm...gonna go use the toilet for a bit...Excuse me!" Yomiya said, before rushed out of the room, leaving me alone with Izumi.

Hah, what's with this guy?

* * *

"So, um, anything you want to say, about all this?" I asked Izumi.

"Sit here." She waved her hand, inviting me to sit next to her, I complied.

"I don't know what to say...it's just...arrgg!" Izumi grabbed her head.

"This damn headache's gonna kill me before the calamity did, damn it! Ah..." She yawned.

"Right, anyways. I guess I own you an apology." Izumi said.

"Wha? What for?"

"For trying to kill you..."

"Huh?"

Ah, yeah. She was trying to kill me and Mei back during my timeline.

"Looks like all of this really set me on the edge in the end...Yukari and Takoko dying...I can't believe it..."

"It's not your fault, really." I told her. "You're just trying to save your friends."

"But..."

"Besides, why would you apologize for something that doesn't happen yet?" I added.

Izumi cracked a small smile.

"Heh...you idiot..."

She leaned back on her couch.

"Honestly, all of this is driving me crazy. First, I've got assigned into the deadliest classroom in the whole world, then I got to be the one to sort out all this mess by my own...and then, there's you!" She stared at me. "If god exists, he must really hated me..."

"You and me both." I said.

Silence.

"So, tell me how I died again, will you?"

Whoa.

"Why would you want to know that?"

"Doesn't matter, just tell me!"

I sighed. Damn it, her death's still giving me nightmares.

"Well, we were in a burning mansion. You were there, holding a long, sharp metal, trying to kill me and Mei. Then, the lightning struck, and the glasses shattered. Some giant glass pieces impaled you. You died later from blood lost, before your body got crushed by the falling debris and burned by the surrounding fire..."

To my surprise, Izumi didn't flinched at all. "That sounded like something that came straight out of Final Destination..." She said. "So, that's why you told me to stay away from windows back at the hospital."

"Yeah. You were also the last person to die from the curse. I killed Ms. Mikami right after that, courtesy of Mei." I added.

"See? I told you that god hates me." Izumi sighed.

Another silence.

"I'm...I'm sorry..."

Izumi looked at me.

"For what?"

"For failing to save you and...for forgetting about our first meeting..." I told her.

Izumi gave me a surprised face.

"So you _do _remember..." She said. "It was...a year and a half ago...right?"

"Yeah..." I said somberly. "I...damn it..."

"What's wrong?"

"I...I'm sorry, Izumi..."

"What the heck are you saying sorry for?"

"Arg! Right, I'll tell you! Before you died, you asked me if I remembered that day, and I shook my head. I swear, I can't get your last words out of my head until now..." My voice trembled.

"What is it?" Izumi asked me.

Wait, is her face getting closer to me?

"Um, you told me that I'm terrible...I'm supposed to say I remember, even if I didn't..."

I looked at her. Izumi's staring at me.

"Well, of course you deserve that! How cruel of you to let me died unhappy!" She gave me a disappointed look, but somehow she looked rather cute with that face.

Before I knew it, she patted my back.

"Hey, I'm kidding. There's no need to say sorry. You remember it now, don't you?"

"Yeah...I'm not forgetting it this time..." I told her.

Izumi gave me a smile. I felt somewhat warm inside.

"Besides, you're the one who told me not to say sorry for something that doesn't happen yet, right?"

I managed to laugh a bit.

Heh...hoisted by my own petard, really.

Well, at least it managed to cheer me up. Something I could use right now.

"So, you love her?" Izumi continued.

"Who?"

"You idiot. Who else could it be? You've been taking care of Mei Misaki since back at your timeline, right? Heck, you guys even got married after you graduated!"

I stayed silent for a while, trying to figure out how to answer the question.

"You could say that I love her...but...it's not the kind of romantic love or anything." I finally said.

"How should I put this...I love her because no one else did, because the people who did are all gone from her life..." I added. "She always compared herself to a doll. A doll who has a human shell, but got no soul of its own...but even a doll needed some love, too."

Izumi listened to me quietly.

"What about you? What is it about her that makes you hate her so much?" I asked her.

Izumi looked away from me.

"It's...it's not like I hated her or anything. I was just...I just don't like her because of the way she acted, because of her negative personality. Like you said, she looked more like a doll than a human. Her very presence made the other classmates feel uneasy around her." She explained.

"She lost her older sister, the closest thing she had to call a family, because even her mother treated her like a stranger. No wonder she became like that." I told her.

"She has an older sister?"

"Yeah, Yomiya told me that."

Izumi sighed.

"So, we do have something in common after all...I also lost a brother."

"Yeah...and to top it all of, we got the calamity."

Izumi nodded in response.

"So, does that mean you'll treat her better now?"

"Yeah...there's no use hating her, right? We all died hating each other...a bad way to go, if you ask me." Izumi said. "I still have to apologize to her for earlier."

"I'm sure you two could get along with each other just fine. " I encouraged her.

Somehow I think that, given enough efforts, Izumi and Mei could be the greatest of friends.

Come to think of it, they both have a lot in common than most people think.

Their close relatives died, their daily lives are nothing but another misery, and they were given an absurd task to carry out. Mei as the Extra one, Izumi as the countermeasure officer.

Just how the two girls dealt with all the stress is still beyond me.

We sat quietly for a while, before Izumi suddenly rest her head on my shoulder.

"Hey, Kouichi..." She spoke out.

"Even if we don't make it through this, thank you for telling me all of this, okay?"

"N-no problem..."

"At least, we can die as friends, not enemies..."

She yawned again. Her voice is getting sleepy.

"...We named her Izumi, after you." I spoke out.

"Who?"

"Our daughter. She's the cutest thing in the world, I tell you." I smiled.

"You named your daughter after me? How very generous!" Izumi giggled.

"Yeah...she can be pretty stubborn sometimes, just like you." I added.

"...I take it all back."

"Haha!"

"Not funny!" Izumi gave me a light punch in the head.

Another silence.

"Izumi Sakakibara..." Izumi suddenly spoke out. "Sounds pretty nice..."

I glanced at her.

"...Hey! Don't get the wrong idea!"

"What the heck are you talking about?"

Her face has gone total red.

"NO! Nothing! Just...forget what I said..."

So, she_ did _have a cute side in her.

Really, I'd love to see her doing more of this later.

Wait. What am I thinking?

Focus, focus!

"So..." Izumi started again.

"...Was it hard? Killing Ms. Mikami? I mean, she's your aunt, isn't she?" Izumi asked me.

Way to ruin a moment, Izumi...

Not this damn question again.

"I was shocked at first, when Mei revealed it to me. Ms. Mikami, Reiko-san, she's...like a mother to me. All these years of her taking care of me, and this happened. It's just...to think that the person you loved the most is the reason all your friends are killed...It's...unbelievable." I said miserably.

"But I did it anyways, and the calamity finally stopped."

"Do you think you could do it again?"

"I have to. She's already dead..."

I can't believe I'm actually saying this.

"She's dead, I kept telling myself that. I need to move on. She has no meaning to me now. I can't 'kill' something that's already dead. Besides, if I don't do it, you guys will die..."

Izumi stared at me.

"Even if she's dead, you still loved her, right?"

That's it. My tears started flowing down again.

"...Yeah...damn it. All those years after that day...I...I felt so empty...Reiko-san...damn it, damn it all..."

At that moment, Izumi made me surprised yet again; she hugged me.

"Hey, you still have us, remember? You still have Mei, Naoya, Yuuya, whoever you saved from the calamity by killing her..." Izumi said tenderly.

"Sometimes, we need a little death in our lives to remind us that we're still alive."

Heh...nice one.

I finally let go of her.

"Thanks, I guess."

"Never mind." She gave me a small, gentle smile.

Naoya, Mei and Yomiya finally walked back into the room.

"So, what'd we miss?" Naoya is the first to asked.

I gave them a bitter smile.

"Tomorrow, we're going to kill my aunt." I told them.

* * *

**Editor's note: I go a field day with this chapter, because I won't be here for a while! LOL.**

**This chapter features a little private moment for Izumi x Kouichi. They're just too damn cute! ^_^ (And yes, **_**damn**_** is my favorite word, any problem?)**

**Anyways, remember what I said about 'No one dying'? Well, I take that back, there WILL be deaths, but it won't be as you expected. This is Another, of course, there has to be deaths!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	5. Another Dream

"No...you did _not _just say that." Naoya said, his voice full of disbelief. "She's your aunt, for god's sake! And you're just gonna kill her!?"

"What other choice do we have?! If I don't do this, then we'll all die!" I yelled out, it's not like I want to do this either!

"I agree with Naoya-san." Yomiya spoke out. "Are you sure killing Reiko-ahem, Ms. Mikami will stop all of this? From what you've said, even if we could stop the calamity this year, it'll begin again once the next year started."

"At least we'll all survive to see the next year..." I told him.

"And what about the next class?! What about them?! Are you just gonna leave them to deal with all of this by themselves!?" Yomiya argued.

"I'll just...I'll think of something! Maybe I'll leave a message...like Matsunaga did! Yeah, that'll help them! It always worked."

"No, it won't! Even if they knew everything they have to do, they still don't know who's the Extra one! You said it yourself, the massacre at that mansion happened because your friends don't know which one of them is dead, so they just decided to kill each other!"

"Well, if you're so smart, tell me if you have any better ideas than this! Huh! Any ideas!?" I shouted back at him. This guy's starting to get on my nerves!

"All of this is supposed to be your fault! Your death twenty-six years ago caused all of this, damn it! Don't you dare tell me what to do!"

"You're crazy! I told you, I don't even born twenty-six years ago! You're just blaming me for something I didn't do!" Yomiya yelled.

"Why won't you guys just calm down!" Izumi shouted at us both.

Silence.

"Now, now, everyone take it easy. There's still time until tomorrow. Kouichi, you said Ms. Mikami is the Extra one and must be killed to stop the calamity, yes?"

"Absolutely." I replied.

Izumi nodded. "Then we do it. If what you said is true, then we'll stop the calamity for this year,"

She then turned to face Yomiya, who's shaking his head in disapproval.

"Then we'll do as _you_ suggested; find out the truth behind this whole class curse thing. First things first, we can't investigate anything if we're dead, right?"

"Yeah..." Yomiya grudgingly admitted. "I was just...I just hope there's some way we can stop all of this without killing anyone."

"She's already dead, Yomiya." I told him. "You can't kill someone who's already dead."

Yomiya opened his mouth, trying to speak something, but decided not to.

"So what about Mei?" Naoya asked up. "She's clearly not the Extra one. What are we gonna do about her now? Reveal the truth to the whole class?"

"Great idea." I supported. I was waiting for this moment for too long now.

"I...don't think that's a good idea, Sakakibara-kun." Mei suddenly spoke out.

Everyone turned to look at her.

"What do you mean? I thought you'll be more happy with your friends finally recognize you again." I asked, surprised at what I heard.

She doesn't want this? With her friends remembering her again? Why?

"Think about it, Sakakibara-kun. How many people will actually believe you're telling the truth?" Mei asked me back.

"I think I agreed with Mei on this one." Izumi added up. I stared at her, confused.

"Besides, wouldn't it be better if we just do this by ourselves? Telling the class the truth will just cause more unwanted panic. If we can really stop the calamity, then there's no need to tell the class anything at all. Just...keep it between us. When all of this is over, we can tell them the whole truth anytime."

Izumi turned to face Mei.

"Of course, if you don't want this, I won't force you." She said to Mei. "I...I know I did a lot of bad things to you in the past and...I'm sorry." Izumi's face saddened, something I didn't expected to see at all.

Looks like she wasn't kidding when she told me that she'll treat Mei better.

Mei stayed silent. I could tell from her face that she was surprised that Izumi, of all people, would say something like this to her, considering the hostility between the two just moments earlier. She just nodded, not knowing what to say.

Of course, being treated as someone who doesn't exist for most of her life might have something to do with it. She never expected to be accepted or understood by those around her, so when someone finally did, especially someone who treated her like that in the first place, she had no idea how to respond.

After nine years of living with her, I understand her feelings quite well.

"Right, so that's that." Naoya spoke out. "Now, what's the plan for tomorrow?"

Izumi looked at me. "Depends on you. Ms. Mikami is your aunt, right? Only you can decide what you will do to her..."

And, it finally came down to this.

Time to cast the die.

"Tomorrow, after school, I'll convince her to meet me at the cemetery. Nobody ever goes there in the evening, and it's in the woods, so no one can...find her body...at least for a while. All of you act like normal tomorrow, I'll...take care of everything...myself"

Even though I already made up my mind, it's still painful just thinking about what I'll do to her, again.

"Just...just give me one more night, with her, before it's all over..." I added.

Everybody stayed silent. Nobody know what to say.

Somehow, part of me still think this is all just a big mistake. Nobody really died; I'm just imagine things. This is all just my worst nightmare come true, nothing else.

Even without the calamity, I've witnessed a lot of deaths in my life. First, my mom, then my aunt, the latter I didn't even remember it happened, courtesy of memory alteration. And then there's the accident three years ago before I joined Yomi North, a bus crash that killed about a dozen people. For me, death is just a natural thing in our lives. The sooner I accept it, the less I fear it.

But all of this, it isn't natural at all.

And it brought me back that odd feeling again.

Yomiya maybe a jerk, but he also has a point. What if killing her didn't solve anything? The calamity happened every year, and from what I understand, it happened because the dead people returned to life. The real question is; what caused it?

Which brings me back to him, Yomiyama Misaki, the one who supposedly started all of this, the one who should've been dead twenty-six years ago.

The dead who won't rest.

Who is Yomiyama Misaki, really?

All these questions and no time to answer them.

I don't know what to do anymore, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't do anything.

Naoya walked up to me and give a few pats on my back. God bless him.

"Well, that settled it, then." I spoke up. "I'm going back home now, it's getting late. Reiko-san's...probably worried about me now..."

I was about to walk out of the room when someone grabbed my sleeve.

It was Mei.

"..."

She whispered something. I'm not sure what she's saying, but it sounded like _thank you._

And then she let go of me.

"Kouichi" Izumi called me. "When you...when everything's over, meet me at Inoya Cafe. You know where it is, don't you?"

I looked at her.

"After everything that's happened, I guess some coffee might be good for all of us." She gave me a little smile, which I found a little awkward.

But, at least it managed to cheer me up a bit.

I just nodded in response, then left Izumi's home.

This is one long day indeed.

* * *

"Where have you been, Kouichi-kun!? It's almost night now!" Reiko-san 'welcomed' me back home. Her shiny reading glasses are back on her face now.

"You do know I don't like it when you're coming home late! The town can be a very scary place during the night, you know?" She then fell on the sofa, exhausted.

"Kubodera-sensei told me you missed the P.E. Class this afternoon. Do you have anything to explain about this?" She adjusted her glasses, before giving me a _very_ disappointed look.

I walked to the fridge and grab some water to drink, having no idea of what to answer her.

Reiko grabbed her head, before sighed loudly.

"This is just your first day at school, and you're behaving yourself like this!? What am I ever going to do with you?!"

"It's...it's not like that...Reiko-san."

Part of me wanted to shout into her face, telling her the whole truth, that she's already dead, and that I need to send her back to death. I wanted to scream at her, that she's the reason my friends are dead, just because she won't stay dead.

But...I don't want her to die.

I wanted to tell her how much I loved her. She's like a mother to me. For god's sake, I'd gladly accept death just to be with her! The nine years without her, doubled with the fact that my grandparents passed away a couple of years after the calamity ended and my dad never came back from India, my life is nothing but another misery. Day after day, I just wanted to die, and there are times when I actually decided to go through with it, but stopped at the last second for Mei's sake.

There are many things I wanted to tell her, yet I can speak nothing. I can do nothing.

It has to be this way, she dies, we survive.

"Are you alright, Kouichi-kun? You looked like you've just seen a ghost."

Reiko's words brought me back to reality.

"Nothing! I'm just...I promise I won't do it again, Reiko-san. I'm sorry for today's behaviors. It was just...something's got into my mind lately."

Reiko got up from the sofa and walked up to me. Her worrying eyes stared at me.

"You've been acting strange since you left the hospital. What's wrong, Kouichi-kun? Can I help you with anything?"

Her gentle voice asked me, like a mother speaking to her son.

"I...I just...don't know what to do. I don't know what I should do. It's...all of this...I don't understand."

Senseless words kept coming out of my mouth. I don't know why I do that. I can't stop it. I don't even know if she's listening to me, I just have the urge to speak something. That feeling of unease lingered inside my mind for too long now, and it clung on to me like a disease. It's making me crazy.

I'm a grown man now, and yet I'm still like this.

Heh, I'm so hopeless.

"What's wrong with me!?"

The next thing I know, her tender arms reached for me, before pulling me into a tight embrace.

"It's okay, Kouichi. No matter what happens, I'm always right here with you, okay?"

That was the final straw.

Tears started to flow down my face into her chest. My mind went absolute blank, and reality disappeared.

All I can see is Reiko. My lovely, kind-hearted and beautiful aunt Reiko.

"P-please...don't...leave...me...a-alone...mom..." 

I didn't remember things much clearly after that. Of course, being in a middle of an emotional breakdown you can't exactly remember everything that's happened, right? All I remember is that I kept calling out Reiko's name, begging her to stay with me. Before I knew it, Reiko brought me back to my bedroom, telling me to rest, then sang me a lullaby.

Yep, I'm completely wreck by that time I needed a lullaby from my mother-figure to sing me to sleep like some kindergarten kid.

The last thing I remembered before passing out, was aunt Reiko gave me a light, gentle kiss on my forehead, and a heartwarming smile on her face before she left the room.

"I love you, Kouichi-kun, sleep well."

"Love you too...mom."

And with the lights out, everything was gone.

* * *

.

.

.

.

.

_"Kouichi..."_

_._

_._

_"Kouichi..."_

_What?_

_"Finally, it took me forever to contact you!"_

_I don't even know who the heck are you!_

_"Who I am is not important, not yet."_

_But why? Why do you contact me? What do you want from me?!_

_You are the one who sent me back to the past, to this place, right?_

_You want me to stop the calamity._

_"Technically, yes and no."_

_What do you mean?_

_"I'll show you..."_

_._

_._

_._

_(The once empty white space transformed itself into a scenery. I don't recognize it at first, but then I figured from the things that materialized in front of me, that I'm currently standing on the rooftop of Yomiyama North Middle School. The twilight sky in the distance gave me a chilling feeling. This place still retained its usual haunted feelings. But it felt, strange. The town that surrounded the school seemed like they were abandoned. There are no people on the streets, no lights in the building. The only people I saw are the students down the school sport grounds, doing their usual P.E. activities.)_

_What!?_

_"This is Yomiyama North Middle School, thirty years from now."_

_Why do you bring me here?_

_"Don't you notice something strange in this place?"_

_Yeah, the town's different. It's like they were abandoned for many years now._

_"That's right. The so-called Class 3-3 calamity of Yomi North has become so severe that it drove the whole population of the town out. The death toll during the past decade has gone through the roof, literally, yet no solution were found to stop it. The only thing people can do is to escape before it took effect. The last people here left Yomiyama six months ago."_

_But why is the school still open!?_

_"Curious, right? Even after all these years, and everything that's happened, the school of Yomi North still continue to operate, and there are students here every year. Don't you find that strange?"_

_Yeah. If there's a curse, and people know about it, why are there still students here!? Heck, this school should've been demolished even before we came here!_

_"That's what I want you to find out."_

_Wait a sec, you want me to find out what caused the calamity? And how it continued to happen every year? Why don't you ask Yomiyama Misaki!? He's the one who started all of this!_

_"Do you even know who Yomiyama Misaki is?"_

_._

_._

_._

_"No?"_

_Fine! I just saw him in pictures! And there are rumors that his death is the reason for all of this. He's supposedly a student from Class 3-3 of the year 1972, my mother's classmate._

_"Go on."_

_One day, he died mysteriously, and his death affected those around him so much they refused to accept that he's dead. They all pretended that he was still alive, even bringing him to lunch and going home with him! Those idiots._

_"And?"_

_And then, on the graduation day, the class has a group picture. When they examined the pic, they found none other than Yomiyama Misaki, standing there, in the group, smiling creepily at the camera, like a ghost. That's all I heard of him._

_"That's all you heard of him?"_

_Yeah! Why do you keep asking me that!?_

_"So, you only 'heard' of him, but you never met him before?"_

_How could I met him before? He's dead before I was even born...unless._

_Unless you're talking about the Yomiyama Misaki that's my classmate right now._

_"Exactly."_

_What's your point?_

_"Do you really believe that he's the one behind all of this?"_

_If he's not, then who is?_

_"Maybe it's you!"_

_Not funny._

_"My point, Kouichi, is that maybe Yomiyama isn't the one who started the calamity."_

_What!? Why?_

_"Listen to me carefully, Yomiyama Misaki never existed twenty-six years ago. He's only here, in the present, alive and well."_

_How the hell is that even possible! In 'my' past, he never was the part of our class! Heck, I never saw him alive before in my life!_

_._

_._

_._

_"Do you believe in alternate realities, Kouichi?"_

_Why the sudden change of subject?_

_"It's obvious, isn't it? Yomiyama Misaki is here, in this current time, whereas in your past, he didn't. Surely this isn't the same timeline you came from."_

_Yeah, so what?_

_"Well, seeing that he's alive in this time, and yet the calamity existed. That can only mean one thing; he wasn't the cause of it."_

_Oookay._

_"Besides, you just told your friends the whole truth about the calamity, while in your past, all of them and even you don't know a thing until it was all over. It changed everything that was supposed to happened. Now, here's the kicker, you just erased the future because of your actions."_

_Who do you think I am, H.G. Wells? Speak Japanese, please._

_"To put it simply, this isn't 'your' past, Kouichi."_

_Okay, now what? The next crazy thing you probably say is that I'm not myself, right?_

_"Practically, yes."_

_._

_._

_._

_Okay, now you're talking bullshit._

_"Listen carefully, This 'you', this 'Kouichi', the one you're experiencing right now, is the Kouichi of 'this' timeline. I just implanted the memories of your future self into him, so he'll have all your memories and understand what's going to happen to him and his friends."_

_._

_._

_._

_You're...joking._

_"It's true, Kouichi. I did this because I need your help. We need to work together to stop the calamity. Do you want to stop the calamity or not?"_

_...Yeah._

_"That's good to hear."_

_So, what do you want me to do? I don't even have a clue of what I should be doing. Heck, I can't even bring myself to kill my own aunt again!_

_"Even if this is an alternate timeline, there's still something that cannot be change. Your aunt is dead, Kouichi, and that's a fact. If you don't kill her, it will cost you the lives of your friends, again."_

_You wouldn't understand. She's my aunt! She's the closest thing to a mother I never got a chance to live with! You can't just simply want me to kill her in cold blood!_

_"Sometimes, we need a little death in our lives to remind us that we're still alive."_

_._

_._

_._

_What did you just say?_

_"Fascinating, this one friend of yours. Izumi, that's her name, right? A very beautiful name..."_

_You have no business with her._

_"So you'd rather have her died a painful death again, along with probably most of your friends you failed to save last time, rather than sending your aunt back to the place where she belong and end all of this madness?"_

_._

_._

_._

_...No._

_I won't let her die again. I won't let them die again. Once is too much for me._

_"Then you must send your aunt back to death. Can you do it?"_

_...Yeah._

_"Good."_

_._

_._

_._

_So, can I ask you a few questions now?_

_"Sure."_

_How do you contact me? I mean, this is a dream, right? I'm currently sleeping right now. Are you sure all of this isn't just my head playing tricks on me? Can I be sure all of this happened for real? I'm not crazy, am I?_

_"I can only contact you while your mind is in a stable state. This is a conversation that took place between two different times we're talking about, you know? I need to make sure your mind is perfectly synced to mine. Most of the time, it happened when your mind is at peace, well, as much as it can, when you're not thinking too much or being too emotional."_

_Like back at that hospital the day you sent me back here, right?_

_"Correction: sent your 'mind' back, and that's right. We can't maintain this kind of connection for too long. Human brains never stopped function unless we're dead. When we're sleeping, our brain tend to become very active. The brain waves we created subconsciously during sleeping sometimes ended up creating dreams, but there are certain periods that the brain wave slowed down and became stable. That's when I come in. As your brain wave became stable, I'm able to link your mind to mine."_

_But didn't you live in the future? How did you link your mind to mine? We're not even in the same time period!_

_"But you 'live' in the future, right? It's just your memories that got send back to the past. Your brain's still here, in your future self's body. I'm just linking my mind to your brain. Therefore, I can contact with your 'mind' and transferred what we shared together to your past self, well, the 'alternate' past, that is. It's confusing to explain even for me. But as technology became more advanced, anything is possible these days."_

_Yeah, well, I've faced crazier things than this. Just go on._

_"So, let's change to our main subject. The calamity. You want to stop it, as well as all of us, but have you ever wondered how it all started in the first place?"_

_You said Yomiyama Misaki isn't the cause, so yeah, it must be someone, or something else._

_"Which bring us to our first question, have you ever wondered why this school continue to open? With all the deaths every year, somebody must've realized something is wrong and shut it down before any more people gets killed, right?"_

_Yeah, I've been thinking about that for a while now._

_"You remembered what I said about 'there is another'?"_

_Right, what's about it?_

_"What if there's 'another' secret behind this whole calamity thing? Not just the Extra one?"_

_What are you trying to tell me?_

_"Have you ever met the other teachers? Other than your homeroom teachers, specific class teachers and Mr. Chibiki, the librarian?"_

_What's wrong with it?_

_"Don't you find that weird? A school this big, yet there are so few teachers here."_

_It's probably that they know about the calamity. Who wants to work in a cursed school?_

_"You've never been to the opening ceremony for new students before, right?"_

_I was at the hospital during that time, you should knew it!_

_"So, you never meet the principal, or anyone else in the school administration office, right?"_

_Yeah._

_"These people are the ones directly responsible for almost everything in this school for years now. Don't you wonder if they knew something about the calamity? Or if they're hiding something from you?"_

_That...makes sense._

_It's very suspicious. I need to look into it._

_"It's your choice. I can only give you guidelines, the rest you must decide for yourself."_

_._

_._

_._

_(The scenery around me started collapsing. The whole world's falling apart. Everything started to turn white.)_

_"The signal's getting worse. It's time I have to go now, Kouichi."_

_Wait a sec! You haven't tell me who you are yet!_

_(All I heard in reply is a soft giggle.)_

_"I'll give you a clue. I'm someone you knew very well. Someone that loves you just as much as you love me..."_

* * *

**Editor's note: Whew! Never thought it was gonna be this long...**

**This is the longest chapter I've wrote so far. If there are mistakes, it's probably I'm overlooking it 'cuz I'm very sleepy when I wrote it... Feel free to inform me if you found one!**

**First of all, I know it's kinda a freakish thing that I included Sci-fi techs in a school horror story. Well, this is fanfiction! Anything is possible! LOL Besides, it's the only way for my story to makes sense without using magics or something. Plus, I'm a huge Sci-fi fans.**

**If you're confused about how I wrote the second half of the story, it's because the whole situation took place inside Kouichi's mind, and the story is supposed to be told from **_**his**_** perspective, his mind, to be precise. And this is a conversation between two minds, so anything that needs description, I'll put inside brackets.**

**Yeah, it's fuckin' crazy. Even I don't know what the hell I'm writing. Maybe I'm on drugs? LOL**

**Next chapter will followed soon!**


	6. Another Revelation

"WHAT!"

I launched myself up from the futon, my body full of sweat.

It's still dark. The clock on my desk reads 01:27 A.M.

So much for my good night's sleep. Thanks a lot, mysterious voice from the future.

Speaking of which...

_What was that dream just now?_

I tried to recall it.

There was this voice...a feminine voice...

Sounds so familiar, I'm sure I recognize that voice from somewhere.

But...I can't figure out who she was.

_And she did come from the future..._

_Someone who loves me? And I loved her as much as she did?_

_Who is she?_

I'll admit, aside from horror novels from the almighty H.P. Lovecraft, I'm also fond of those sci-fi things, especially time travel, but this is _ridiculous._

_Send memories back through time to change the past that isn't even the same past that I came from..._

At this moment, I'm willing to believe anything now.

The calamity that caused freakish deaths like something out of horror movies. Why not? Dead people mysteriously returned to life causing the said calamity in the first place? Nothing new. Some future chick messing with my head and sending my memories into my alternate past self to stop said calamity? Hell yeah.

And let's not even started about how Yomiyama Misaki never existed twenty six years ago.

_How is that even possible?_

Damn it, this isn't helping me at all.

She did mention something fishy about Yomi North, though.

_"So, you never meet the principal, or anyone else in the school administration office, right?"_

...

It's actually true.

In fact, _nobody _in our class, or even the entire school, have ever seen the principal's face or anyone in the school admin office for that matter.

Even nine years ago, after everything ended, I can't even catch a glimpse of those adults at the funerals for the victims. It's as if they never existed.

Then, who controls this school? A ghost?

Aside from teachers and Mr. Chibiki, this school is abnormally quiet.

I didn't think about it too much back then, with the calamity happening, the deaths, and our struggles to survive, there's no time to think about something else.

But now...when I already know everything that's going to happen, new questions started forming in my mind.

_What if everything that's happened isn't 'everything'?_

There's still something weird about this whole thing.

I need to find this 'principal' soon.

My new school term's just got a lot more interesting...

* * *

BEEP BEEP

My alarm clock's buzzing loudly on the table. I lazily get up from my futon.

"Urgh...can't I just have a day off today?" I mumbled to myself. Hey, when you're studying inside the most dangerous school in this godforsaken world, you should have the right to do anything you want!

Well...I already did that when I got cast as the another 'Extra' one nine years ago...

Guess that's one good part of it. Being the Extra one. Nobody cares what you do, nothing you do has any consequences. You literally have a whole school in your hand.

Not that it do me any much good except hanging around with Mei, mind you.

God, that's why I _hate _this place. Why the hell did I have to move from Tokyo!?

Besides, today, I need to do something unforgivable, again.

_It's gonna be all over today. _I thought to myself. A hopeful thought, at best.

Let's get this shit over with...

My grandma called me for breakfast, while my grandpa's paying respect to Ritsuko...and Reiko...'s altar, as usual.

Reiko-san's already left for school. Her duty as a teacher there means she has to leave the house early every day.

I did everything as fast as humanly possible, took a quick bath, have some breakfast, grab my things and rushed out of my home before my grandparents realize anything.

Kinda weird for a man who's never been any enthusiastic about going to school like me.

Along the way, I passed by Aya and Yumi. They both waved happily at me.

Depressing thoughts started floating through my mind again...about how it all ended last time.

_"..._Kouichi-kun? Kouichi-kun!? What's wrong!? I've been calling you three times already! What's on your mind!?" Aya called out to me.

"Ahh, no, nothing...I'm just...thinking about something." I replied.

Yumi curiously stared at me.

"Izumi called me last night, she said she won't be coming to school today. She's still not healed from her headache."

She won't be coming to school today?

That's a pity.

Well, it's probably for the best. Right now, home is the safest place for anyone connected to this cursed school.

"She _did _leave you a message, by the way. She told me to tell you that...that she wished you good luck...for whatever you're doing..."

Yumi gave me a serious look.

"Look, I don't know what's going on between you and Izumi yesterday, but if it has anything to do with the class's...'

Aya put her hand on Yumi's back, causing her to turn to look at her.

"Yumi-chan...don't stress Kouichi-kun any more than it is. He has a lot of things on his mind now."

Yumi nodded, then sighed heavily.

"I mean, ah, forget it. I was just...not exactly in a good mood today." She said bitterly, then put her hand on my shoulder.

"Just...good luck, Kouichi-kun. If Izumi trusted you, so will us."

She managed a little smile.

"Thanks." I smiled back, trying to ease the tension.

And then we walked to school together.

* * *

We arrived at school about thirty minutes before the class started.

Rather than going to the class immediately, I decided to split up from Aya and Yumi at the stairs, and heading straight to the principal's office.

Time to uncover the truth about this school.

Strange enough when I think about it; all these years and nobody ever saw the principal himself? Herself? Heck, is the principal even existed?!

At any rate, I'll find the answer soon enough.

The principal's office is on the fourth floor. Heh, talk about symbolism.

Four is never anyone's lucky number, don't argue with me. Anything that related to the number 'four' never ended well.

I knocked on the door, twice, nobody seems to be inside.

I looked at the sign above the door.

_Principal's Room_.

No principal's name, huh.

Heh, why so secretive?

I started banging my fist on the door, I have to meet with this 'principal' no matter what.

"Hey, you! What are you doing here!?" A voice came up from behind me, I turned to look.

It was Masato-sensei, the homeroom teacher of Class 3-2 and also the coach for the P.E. Class. Not so much of a friendly person, if you ask me. His muscular build and hot-tempered altitude might be the reason for that.

"You're not supposed to be here, get back to your class!" He yelled.

"But I need to see the principal! It's an emergency!" I argued.

"Nobody can meet the principal without appointment, and the first class is about to start! Get back to your class now, I warned you."

"No, sir. I need to see the principal _now_, and I won't be going anywhere until I meet him." I said.

"You brat! How dare you!" Masato-sensei grabbed my collar, almost lifted me up from the floor.

Suddenly, the door opened.

"Let him in, Masato-san. I'll deal with him." A deep, calm voice came out from it.

"But...! Yes, sir." Masato replied, then slowly let me go.

"Be polite to the principal, or else." He gave me one last warning, before walking away.

I walked into the principal's room.

There is only one other person inside the room. A man wearing a black suit, sitting at his wooden desk in the center of the room.

The principal's sitting there, staring at me curiously. He still remained quiet.

I glanced around the room. It's neither luxurious nor plain. It's just...ah, man, I've never been good at explaining things.

There's a lot of pictures, and lockers for files, something you would find in an office.

The principal himself, well, he looks like an old man, probably late forties or maybe even in his early fifties. I can tell this from his grey-ish hair and his stern face. He's wearing a pair of round glasses. For a moment, I thought he was Mr. Chibiki.

"So, what is your business today, boy? It's been quite a while since anybody came to this room." His grumpy voice asked.

I...don't know what to say.

Damn it, I have so many questions to ask him, but...when I finally got to meet the man, I find myself unable to say anything.

I did what none of my friends could...see the principal face to face.

"...Ah, er...nice to meet you...sir. My name is Kouichi Sakakibara, I'm from class 3-3."

Damn it! This isn't what I had in mind!

The principal adjusted his glasses.

"If you're here because you want to introduce yourself, then get back to your class. I'm a busy man, you know?" He said disapprovingly.

"Ah! Sorry, sir! I mean..."

_Damn it, Kouichi. Focus, man! You're here to ask this guy about the calamity, now do it!_

"I'm...I'm here to ask you something, sir."

"Ask away, and be quick about it."

"You...do aware that our school...one class in this school, to be specific, is cursed, sir?"

The principal didn't reply.

"Every year..." I continued. "Those who connected to that class die a mysterious...almost supernatural death. We came to know it as the 'Class 3-3 calamity'."

He still remained quiet.

"For the record, sir, I'm in _that _class, and the calamity has already started, sir."

"What are you trying to ask?" The principal finally said.

"I wanted to save my friends, sir. It's only a matter of time before one of my classmates die. Maybe it's even me that's going to be the first victim, sir. I need your help." I said.

"Take a seat." The principal offered. I did as he commanded, and sit at the seat opposite from him.

"What do you want to know?" He asked.

"Everything, sir. I want to know if you know anything about this. It's _your_ school, sir. You've been taking care of this school for many years now. Surely you must know something about this so-called calamity!" I said desperately.

The principal got up from his seat, before walking toward the windows at the back of the room, his back turned to me.

"This isn't the first time anyone asked me this question, Sakakibara-kun." He said.

"Do you really want to know the answer?"

"Yes, sir."

He sighed loudly, his hands crossed behind his back.

"Twenty-six years ago, a student from Class 3-3 died mysteriously..." He began.

"Even then, his friends still called out to him, treated him like he's still alive."

Wait, isn't that the story of Yomiyama Misaki?

But...he's still alive in the present!

"You're aware of the story, aren't you?"

"Yes, sir, but...what's the name of the dead student?" I asked. It's definitely _not_ Yomiyama Misaki. What's the meaning of this!

"No one..."

_What?_

"That's a cover up story, Sakakibara-kun...there's no such incident in the history of Class 3-3..."

_WHAT THE HELL!?_

"But sir! I thought! All that stories about the Extra one! The dead people returned to life...! Mr. Chibiki told me that story! Why!?" I asked frantically.

Just what the hell is happening!?

"Mr. Chibiki, and every teachers in this school, agreed to never tell the truth to anybody, Sakakibara-kun. It's...a very harsh truth. Even I can't believe that it happened the first time I knew about it." He turned to face me at last.

"But...why!? What's the true story!? Tell me, sir!"

Silence.

"You're not ready to face the truth, student."

"Like hell I'm not, sir! We're talking the lives of _your_ students here! Aren't you concern about them at all!? Forgive me, sir, but you'll be the biggest asshole I've ever known if you don't care for our safety at all!" I snapped at him. Is this the person we called the principal? He told us lies and letting us die? What the fuck!?

"YOU DON'T HAVE ANY RIGHT TO CALL ME THAT, STUDENT!" He slammed his fist on the table.

"Try me, sir!" I'm not backing down, even if I had to punch that bastard in the face. The truth is all I care right now. Why must he do this to us!? He's responsible for all the deaths that happened, damn it!

He sighed again.

"You really want to know it?"

I nodded.

"The truth is...twenty six years ago, there was a murder in this town..." He started.

"The dead person is a young student in Class 3-3...named Shizuka Yomiyama."

_Yomiyama?_

"That's right. She's from Yomiyama family, the family that has very important and long history with the founding of this town..." He explained.

"What happened to her, sir?"

"She was killed. The police never catch the killer, but there's an urban legend regarding her life before she was killed."

"What's about it?"

"She was...treated as nonexistent by others. Rumors said that the Yomiyama family did something horrible in the past, resulted in the tainting of the family's name, and everyone else treated members of this family as people who don't exist, despite that they were the ones who founded this town in the first place."

"But...that's horrible!" I said.

"Isn't it? Now, here's the kicker. Two years after she died, I discovered something, the dark secret of this town..."

"What, sir?"

"Her death was masterminded by the whole of Class 3-3."

_What the hell!?_

"It's true, Sakakibara-kun! Her classmates...they always hated the Yomiyama family, so they decided to conspire an attempt to kill her..."

The principal said...his voice getting angry.

"They broke into her house, tied her up, raped her...then killed her..."

That's...that's just fucked-up...

I can't believe it.

But...my mother...Ritsuko...she's also a student during that year...

_Don't tell me she's part of them!?_

But...my mom will never do such a thing!

"Surprised? You'll never find something like this in our town's history...the worst crime ever committed in Japan." He continued.

I was too stunned to say anything.

"The whole town acted like nothing happened, they ignored her, forgotten her, left her to rot. For all of us, Shizuka Yomiyama and her family never existed." The principal said, his voice trembling.

I stayed silent, still shocked from the truth he told me.

"Since then, the calamity begin every year, right?" He continued.

"You mean...she's haunting us? Killing us one by one as a revenge for what that was done to her?" I asked him.

"Maybe. As of now, you're probably aware that one of us isn't alive, correct?"

_Reiko-san..._

"My theory, as hard as it is to believe it, is that _every_ Extra ones that existed since that incident twenty-six years ago, are the reincarnations of Shizuka Yomiyama..."

"You're joking, sir..." I managed to say something. "You really mean that Shizuka Yomiyama returned to life in some form of deceased people?"

_That means Reiko-san...my aunt...she's Shizuka reincarnated? That's impossible!_

"Think about it, Sakakibara-kun. The Extra ones, the countermeasures regarding treating one of us as nonexistent, memories alteration, These are all the things that Shizuka suffered throughout her life, aren't they?"

"But...but why our class!? Why she must haunt our class!? We never did anything to her!" I protested.

"Class 3-3 is the one that started all of this in the first place, Sakakibara-kun. Who's to judge that she didn't want revenge on the class? Maybe she deliberately targeted only your class."

"Then why don't we move away, sir!? Get us all away from this cursed place!" I argued.

"If only it was that easy, Sakakibara-kun. We tried doing that once, eighteen years ago. It's not working. It's similar to one of Class 3-3's attempts to prevent the calamity a few years ago. They changed the class number, changing rooms, but that still won't stop the calamity. This is similar to that. No matter where we go, death will eventually find its way to reach us. I even removed Class 3-3 from our school for one year, but it only made things worse, the deaths reached the townspeople instead of just students in the school." The principal explained.

I thought back to when me and a few friends went to the beach outside Yomiyama town with Reiko-san, and Junta...died at that beach that day.

There's no stopping it. We can't escape from it...

So, that's it? There's no way we can stop the calamity permanently?

"...Is there no way we can stop this...at all?"

"I don't think so..." He said bitterly.

"I've witnessed so many deaths in my life now...during my time here. There's no way we can stop the calamity at all, Sakakibara-kun. I'm sorry."

Guess that's over.

There's no way we can stop it permanently.

Shizuka Yomiyama...whoever she is...she's the one behind everything.

And my mom...did she...have anything to do with her death?

That's why she hates our class so much she haunted it every year?

Damn it all...

The least I can do...if she's indeed reincarnated as my aunt...I can send her back to death.

Stopping the calamity for this year and saving my friends.

That's...the best I can do.

The best anyone can do...

"...Thank you, Mr. Principal." I said.

"Call me Seito..." He said. "That's my name."

Seito?

"I have another question, Seito-sensei." I spoke to him.

"You said that I'm not the only one who asked you about this. Is there any other people who ever asked you these questions?" I asked.

Seito adjusted his glasses yet again.

"It was fifteen years ago, Sakakibara-kun. Her name is Ryoko Akiyama."

* * *

**Editor's note: Another chapter done! (no pun intended LOL). Honestly, the more I write it, the plot's starting to get weirder and weirder...**

**Well, the true culprit behind the calamity is here! Shizuka Yomiyama. Crazy bitch with a vengeance. Hey, all this calamity thing must've originated from something! It's not like 'DEATH' itself's going on rampage killing people just to find the dead person, right? I also explained how moving to other towns didn't stop Death from its killing spree. That's why even the sanest people in the story can't escape from this cruel setting! HAHAHA! I'm so crazy LOL! As for Mr. Principal? I'll only give you one clue: He didn't tell us everything! OMG We're gonna die!**

**Another sneak peak for the next chapter! Someone's going to die, for sure.**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter! (I'm starting to run out of ideas again...) **


	7. Another Photo

There is only one thing on my mind right now.

_I'm fucked._

Seriously, I meant it.

Knowing that you're about to die is one thing, because I knew how to prevent it, how to stop it, to save my friends I failed to save last time.

But this...this whole story about Shizuka Yomiyama and her dark history with Class 3-3, it's just...

_My mom, she's also her classmate._

_But..._

Damn it, what is this feeling!?

I was...sure I knew everything I needed to stop the calamity for good, but...this changes everything.

_Reiko-san is Shizuka reincarnated._

What does that even mean!? Why she must choose my aunt, of all people, to be the Extra one this year!?

And why the hell must she haunt us like this? We never do anything to her!

And Seito, the principal...why must he hid this from us?

Heck, forget him. Mr. Chibiki, the only sanest person in this whole goddamn town, the only one I could depend on, also hid this from me.

What the hell is going on around here!?

* * *

_"It was fifteen years ago, Sakakibara-kun. Her name is Ryoko Akiyama." Seito said._

_"W-who is that supposed to be?" _

_"She was a student in the class 3-3. She's a magnificent student. One of my favorite, if you asked me, even though the only time we did see each other eye to eye is in this very room, when she came to ask me for advice of how to deal with the calamity, just like you did right now." Seito explained._

_"And...what happened to her, sir?" I asked him._

_Seito sighed heavily before taking off his glasses. "She didn't make it, Sakakibara-kun. In fact, she was the first one who was killed."_

_Oh god..._

_"I'm...sorry to hear that, sir." I said._

_Seito laughed bitterly._

_"Tell that to Ms. Mikami. They used to be best friends when they studied here together. She was devastated when she learned about her death."_

_Did I just heard that right? Aunt Reiko and Ryoko were friends?_

_Seito walked to the coffee machine on the table near the window._

_"Want something, young man?" He offered._

_"Ahh...no, thank you sir." I replied._

_Seito frowned, then turn back to prep his coffee._

_"There's something I want to ask you, Sakakibara-kun, do you really think you can make a difference?" He asked._

_"I...don't understand, sir."_

_"You said you're doing all of this to stop the calamity, do you really believe it could be stopped?"_

_I..._

_"I've heard you've quite fond of horror fictions, right? Ms. Mikami once told me that. Don't you think that our situation right now, is just like something in your novels?"_

_Seito finally finished making his coffee, before turning to face me._

_"You can't write a horror story without someone dying."_

_"But...but this isn't a story, sir. It's *our* lives we're talking about here! At least I have to do something to save my friends!"_

_Seito ignored me. He's still drinking his coffee._

_"Why, sir? Why hide the truth? Why all the secrecy? Why didn't you do anything to help us!?" I finally snapped._

_Seito sighed._

_"You're just like her. Stubborn, just like Ryoko..."_

_He walked toward me. His cold eyes stared fixed at me._

_"Do you feel better? Knowing the whole truth? Was it worth it? Did it make anything better?"_

_I didn't say anything._

_"It didn't help anything at all, did it?"_

_It's..._

_"You can't do anything, I can't do anything, no one can do anything."_

_I..._

_"The point is, why reveal the truth if it doesn't help anything? The calamity won't stop, nothing can change that. The truth will just make everything worse."_

_His cup of coffee is empty now._

_"We already did what we could, it's the best we can do."_

_"...It's not good enough." I mumbled._

_Principal Seito ignored me, he placed his empty cup on his desk, before putting on his glasses once again._

_"The class's already started. You're dismissed, Sakakibara-kun."_

* * *

He's hiding something, I can feel it.

I'm not sure what it is, it's like a strange feeling, about I think he didn't tell me everything about Shizuka Yomiyama.

Why is it only me, of all people, to learn the truth about her? After all these years, somebody must bound to find this out one way or another!

I recalled my dream last night, that mysterious voice told me that thirty years from now, the school will be still open. Thirty freaking years and still nobody figured something out!? Only an idiot will believe it.

The class's already started, but I'm not heading there.

The library is my next destination, I figured if the principal didn't told me everything, maybe Mr. Chibiki will.

It's still a long time until evening, anyways.

* * *

The library's still a quiet, almost creepy place, as always.

Mr. Chibiki is sitting at his desk, as he always did, but what surprised me is the boy who sat next to him:

Yomiyama Misaki.

"Yomiya-san? What are you doing here!?" I exclaimed.

"I could say the same to you, Kouichi-san. Aren't you supposed to be in the class right now?" He replied.

"Enough, both of you shouldn't be here anyways." Mr. Chibiki interrupted.

"You must be the new transfer student Misaki-kun just told me about. Kouichi Sakakibara, am I correct?" He asked.

"Yes, sir."

Mr. Chibiki sighed.

"I assumed you know about what's going on in your class, aren't you?"

I stared at Yomiya, did that guy just told him about how I knew about the calamity firsthand?

"I still have some questions about it, that's why I came to you, sir." I told Mr. Chibiki.

Mr. Chibiki glanced at Yomiya.

"Hmph, looks like your new friend here got some of your bad habits, Misaki-kun."

Yomiya just shrugged. "With everything that's happening, I just can't sit around doing nothing like most of my classmates, sir, and I'm sure that my friend Sakakibara-kun here will agree with me completely."

Mr. Chibiki let out a bitter laugh.

"I guess you've made your point."

And then he turned to face me.

"So, what do you want to ask, young man?"

Right, now it's my turn.

I cleared my throat, before getting straight to the point.

"Do you know anything about the principal, sir? Mr. Seito?"

That question actually made Mr. Chibiki's eyes widen in surprise, something I never expected.

"Did you...meet him?" He asked nervously.

"Yes, sir. I've been trying to ask for his help in dealing with the...the curse with our class..."

"And he told you the dark secret of this town, didn't he?" Mr. Chibiki continued.

"...Yes...sir."

So, he _did _know about it. He knew about it the whole time. The confirmed my suspicious.

The teachers knew about it, all of them.

The only ones who didn't know...are the students.

"I figured as much, Chibiki-sensei." Yomiya said. "I can see it in your eyes, you're hiding something from me ever since we started talking about the calamity."

Surrendered, Mr. Chibiki let out a big sigh, before grabbing a book from his desk drawer.

"This is the book containing the photos of students in Class 3-3 every year..."

He flipped through the pages, each containing photos of students in Class 3-3 every year, before stopping at the first page.

"This is Class 3-3 of the year 1972." He pointed at the top left picture.

Both I and Yomiya stared at it. It's the same picture as the one I found in Reiko's room from...a long time ago.

That photo...has who was supposed to be Yomiyama Misaki...inside it.

And he's _still _there.

"Do you see anyone strange in this picture?" Chibiki asked.

I pointed at Yomiya...the person who was supposed to be Yomiyama Misaki; the person who looked like a ghost in the photo.

"Who is him?" I finally asked, because he _definitely _can't be Yomiyama, because he's sitting _right here _ beside me!

Mr. Chibiki stood silent.

"He...he looks just like me..." Yomiya said in disbelief. "He...he can't be me...right?"

Nobody said anything.

Mr. Chibiki then tore the photo from the book, revealing another photo underneath it.

The new photo has only three students in it. Two girls and one boy.

I recognize the one girl inside the photo. She's undoubtedly my mother, Ritsuko. The other boy is the same boy as the boy in the class picture, only this time he isn't paled, and looked just like any normal person.

The last girl who stood between them is wearing a pair of glasses, she has a short, brownish hair, and is smiling happily.

"The girl in the center is Shizuka Yomiyama...the 'Extra' one of Class 3-3 of the year 1972." Mr. Chibiki said slowly.

"Wha? But I thought the calamity and the whole 'Extra' one thing began a year after that! Why is she the Extra one!?" Yomiya blurted out.

"It's just figuratively speaking, Yomiya. You didn't know the whole story about her and the class, did you?" I asked him.

"Em...no."

"Be glad you didn't. Well, if you want to know, I can explain to you later. Now, Mr. Chibiki, please continue." I said.

"Now, if my assumption is correct, Mr. Seito must've already explained about connections between Shizuka Yomiyama and the class."

Chibiki took a closer look to the photo, examining it, as if it has something of importance to him.

"Her death...is tragic at _best_. No one deserved to die like that. What her classmates did to her, it's just...horrifying."

"Did my...did my mother has something to do with it?" That's it, the dreaded question came out from my mouth.

Chibiki shook his head. "No, your mother Ritsuko was one of her very few friends, along with the boy in the picture."

"Who is the boy, anyways? He looked just like me!" Yomiya asked.

"His name is Akira Matsumoto. He's a playful student, if I remember correctly. He's also very smart and hardworking person. He used to help me doing some small errands after class."

"What happened to him?" I asked, something doesn't add up for me. Why is Akira looked surprisingly similar to Yomiyama?

_Maybe it's just a coincidence?_

Chibiki closed the book then put it back in his drawer. "He committed suicide shortly after Shizuka was killed. Rumors has it that he was going out with Shizuka by the time she was...declared the 'Extra' one of the class. He was very grieved when she died."

"That still doesn't explain why the hell he looked just like me..." Yomiya complained, and for once, I agreed with him.

_Yomiyama Misaki never existed twenty-six years ago..._

I'm not so sure about that now.

"I don't know, maybe it's just a coincidence, maybe you were his reincarnation, who knows? Some questions just don't have answers." Chibiki replied.

"Why kept all this a secret, Mr. Chibiki?" I asked him.

Chibiki just turn his back on me, he stayed silent for a while.

"Class 3-3..." He started "I've kept my eyes on that class for most of my life. So many dead, so much carnage..."

His voice sounded so empty, emotionless, reminded me somewhat of Mei Misaki.

"You students have suffered enough, I can't bear the pain of having to reveal the awful truth to you. It's not something young people like you could accept..."

"Well, with all due respect, sir, but are we young enough to accept _death_?"

I said angrily, my fists clenched. Is this the man who's been helping me getting through the last calamity? Is this the man I considered to be one of the only few people I could rely on? Is this the man I called my teacher?

Chibiki just let out a big sigh.

"Everyone is young enough to die, Sakakibara-kun, but not everyone is ready for it."

Silence.

Yomiya just sat on his chair, thinking something, I guess. While Chibiki walked to the window, staring into the distance.

"I don't expect you to understand or forgive me. Whatever wrongs that I did, it is a guilt that I must live with for the rest of my life." Chibiki said. "But you...you still have your chances. I cannot guarantee that all of you will survive, but at least some of you can still make it. It's always like this, every year, since that day..."

I glanced at Yomiya, who's also staring at me.

We both don't know how to respond.

"If this is the best you could help us, then we thank you, Mr. Chibiki..." I said coldly, this man is no longer my teacher. I just...want nothing more to do with him.

"Let's go, Yomiya-san." I called Yomiya, who still has a confused look on his face.

And then we left the library.

* * *

We walked through the hallway, with no clear destination in mind.

There's no point going to the class. Yomiya put it best, there's nothing we could do there except sitting around waiting for our deaths.

So, we were just walking along, finally ended up at the school ground. There, we started discussing about what we've learned.

"So, what's with all that Shizuka Yomiyama business about?" Yomiya asked.

"I'll explain more to you later, I have something else to ask you. What were _you_ doing with Mr. Chibiki?"

Yomiya frowned. "Yesterday, when I got home, I searched for some old files about the previous Class-3-3 years. I found this old diary in my mom's room."

He showed me an old, worn-out diary he's carrying with him.

I grabbed the diary from him, and started flipping through the pages.

"My mother told me this diary belonged to her cousin who studied in this school fifteen years ago. I figured it might help us solving this whole calamity thing, so I bought it to Mr. Chibiki to inspect it." Yomiya explained.

I scanned through the diary, it has a lot written in it.

"Who's the owner of this diary?" I asked Yomiya.

"See for yourself, the name's on the cover." He replied.

I closed the book and look at the cover. I saw a name written on it. It's faded, but I can still make it out:

_Ryoko Akiyama_

_It's her again._

"Do you know who she is?" I asked Yomiya.

"All I know is that she's my mom's cousin. From what she told me, Ryoko's kind of a girl who likes mysterious, supernatural things. She's also one of the few who firmly believed in the calamity during her year." Yomiya explained.

"She's also the first to die..." I added, Yomiya glanced at me.

"...You _did _meet the principal, didn't you?" Yomiya asked. "Seito, isn't it? What's he like?"

"I don't want to talk about him..." I said. "All you need to know is that he told me about Ryoko Akiyama. She's my aunt's classmate."

"You mean our homeroom teacher? Ms. Mikami? She's Ryoko's classmate?"

"Yeah."

I handed the diary back to Yomiya. He quickly searched through the pages.

"There's something that's been bothering me for a while...something Ryoko wrote in here..."

After flipping through the pages so fast (Heck, I was worried he'd tear up some of them for a while) he finally stopped. The page itself is near the end of the diary.

Yomiya showed the diary to me, I started reading the texts written on it.

_May 28th, 1983_

_Damn that Habayashi! He bullied Reiko-chan again! I swear, if he does that again, I'll send him to hell myself!_

_Anyways, that's not the point. Today I discovered something strange. I swear, after that...that secret Mr. Seito told me about, I...I was sure I was prepared for anything..._

_The calamity will start soon, maybe it's even today! God only knows who will be the first victim. Reiko still doesn't believe it, though. Maybe it's for the best. Ignorance is bliss, that's what they said. But sometimes ignorance_ _got us nowhere._

_About two days ago, I visited the Yomiyama Police Station, and asked the polices for records of the previous deaths. After two hours spending scanning through them, I discovered something similar in some of the deaths. It's true that the calamity caused freakish, supernatural deaths, but these deaths are different. They weren't killed because of accidents, several evidences pointed out that...that they were murdered._

_As if the calamity isn't enough, now we've got some serial killer staking us around!_

_Just kill me already._

"Murdered? That's not strange. My aunt...I mean Ms. Mikami, she was murdered, too." I said.

"I don't know about that, too, but just continue read on." Yomiya ordered.

_May 30th, 1983_

_Heh, I'm still alive, eh?_

_Not sure if that's a good thing, though. I learned something terrifying today._

_I've been wondering about that picture Mr. Chibiki showed to me, that group picture with that ghostly boy in it. Akira Matsumoto, isn't it? Well, I've been piercing together what I've learned._

_If the 'dead' person is send back to death, that person will disappear from every pictures he took after his real 'death'. His name will disappear from the class roster, and so on._

_Now, this dude, Akira Matsumoto, if he really did commit suicide, why is he still in the group picture?_

_I came to my own conclusion today, if Akira Matsumoto is indeed dead, then the boy in the group picture must be someone else, which is unlikely. The only other possible conclusion, is that he *returned* from death. Otherwise, he shouldn't be in the picture at all. It doesn't make any sense._

_But it did proved my theory about the Extra ones. The dead people indeed exists, they're living with us, unaware of their states, and they were the reason for the calamity._

_Damn it, so it's true. One of us is a ghost, I bet my head on it. Still can't really believe it, though._

_I tried asking Mr. Seito about this, he didn't say anything. Odd, but I didn't think too much about it. He must be as blind as I am, with everything that's happening._

_And there's still the story about *that* girl, Shizuka Yomiyama, that Mr. Seito told me about._

_I'm not sure if it's true. Maybe he's lying, but I don't think it is the case. The point is, something indeed happened eleven years ago that caused all of this in the first place, something that our predecessors, the Class 3-3 of 1972, did._

_Killing Shizuka-san? She returned to haunt us? Heh, just like some horror movies._

_Still, something's buggering me about this Shizuka girl..._

_Maybe I'll skip school tomorrow. I need to find some information about her. Maybe the town's public library? Biography of the Yomiyama family? Yeah, that'll do._

_The calamity hasn't happen yet, if I'm lucky, maybe I'll get to see the next month after all._

"What happened after that?" I asked.

Yomiya sighed. "She died a day after that, on May 31st, signaling the beginning of that year's calamity."

That's...so sad.

"So, what did you and Chibiki found out after reading it?"

"Not much from what I already know from you, that's for sure." He replied.

"So, nothing?"

"Hate to say it, but...yes."

Damn it.

"So, this evening, you're gonna do it?" He asked. I almost forgot that I have something 'important' to do this evening.

"There's no other choice. I have to do it before somebody gets killed."

Suddenly, the bell rings.

"Guess the morning class's finally over." I said.

"Let's go meet up with Naoya-san and Mei-chan. They need to know about this." Yomiya suggested.

And so, we returned to the school building.

* * *

"Where have you been, Kouichi!" Naoya yelled when he saw me and Yomiya. He's not happy at all. "The next time you're skipping classes, tell me first, will you? So I could join you!"

"Not a chance, you idiot. You'll just getting in our way." Yomiya jokingly said.

"WHAT!? Why, you little..." Naoya grunted.

"Hey, calm down, you two! Now, Naoya, we need to..."

Before I finished, I was interrupted by a loud scream coming from the class.

"AAAHH!"

It was Yukari's...

_No!_

_But...it's too soon!_

I quickly rushed into the classroom. Some of the students turned to look at me, but most of them stared at the window with a stunned expression on their faces.

I glanced around the room, and saw Yukari curled up on the floor. She seems fine, thank god, but her eyes are widen in shock.

"Yukari! Yukari! Thank god you're fine. What happened!?" I rushed to her, and shook her body. She's still not responded, but she lifted her left hand and point it to the one open window at the left side of the room.

"It's Kazami! He's..!" She screamed.

"Kouichi! You better come look at this!" Yomiya, who's already at the window, called me.

I ran to the open window, before looking down below.

Down below, on the school ground, there is one body lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

_Kazami's..._

"He...he was sitting on the edge, I was just talking with him just now! But...he...he _slipped..._He slipped! He just slipped!" Yuuya cried out.

Some female students began crying, while a couple of boys rushed out to find teachers.

_This, this isn't how it was supposed to happen!_

_It can't be!_

I stood paralyzed. Slowly, realization came to my mind.

_I was too late._

_Tomohiko Kazami is dead, and I can't do anything to stop it..._

* * *

**Editor's note: There goes Kazami. You will not be missed, you bastard! LOL**

**I was just kidding! Really. He's just...not exactly my favorite character in Another, plus I don't know what to do with him, so I decided to kill him off...One less student to worry about! (Now I'm starting to feel like a sadist...)**

**Like I said, you can't write a horror story without someone dying. Hopefully, things will get better. Unfortunately, this is Another, so it **_**won't**_** get better unless it gets_ very_ worse first.**

**On another note, I decided to expand the role of one Ryoko Akiyama. She's the manga-only character, as I've learned from Another wikia. After some more research, I started to like her character. Shame that she had no role at all in the anime...**

**Next chapter coming right up! If there are any mistakes, feel free to point that out to me. I'm working as fast as I could because the next few weeks I'll be very, very busy, so I decided to end this story as quick as possible, preferably before June 10th... **


	8. Another Death

_This is not happening._

_This is not happening to me again…_

_I thought…I thought this time, I'll make a difference._

_I thought…this time, I'm gonna save them._

"_You can't write a horror story without someone dying."_

_The principal's words still echoed inside my ears…_

* * *

"…temporary black out…he's unconscious when he's falling…"

"…not enough sleep…excessive working…too much stress…"

"…neck broken when he hit the ground…"

"…landed head first…no chance of survival…"

Numerous people chattered about…about what that happened.

Police cruisers and an ambulance parked outside the school wall. An hour after he died, Kazami's body was retrieved by the morgue officials. His family arrived shortly after. I can't bear to watch the sight of his mother having an emotional breakdown upon seeing the lifeless body of her son. Kazami's two sisters were even worse than her; they clung to their brother's body, begging again and again for him to wake up, even after he was moved onto the ambulance.

"Another student died again…I can't believe it." I heard one of the police officers said.

"Yeah, not again." Another officer replied.

"That's it, I'm quitting tomorrow. I can't stand living in this cursed town anymore! People died every year here! Most of 'em kids! I'm moving my family to Tokyo next morning!"

"Hell, if I don't have to take care of my sick mom, I'll probably be going, too. Living here is like a nightmare that never ends…"

I, myself, don't have much time to mourn for Kazami, as Naoya dragged me back inside the school building before slammed me into the locker and start punching me.

"YOU SAID YOU CAN SAVE HIM! YOU TOLD ME YOU CAN, YOU BASTARD! YOU SHOULD'VE KILLED THE EXTRA ONE WHEN YOU HAD A CHANCE!"

He has the right to be angry. They were childhood friends, after all.

"Oi! Calm down, Naoya-san!"

Even with Yomiya holding him back, I still took a few punches from him.

I didn't fight back, because I knew it's really my own fault.

Had I bother to kill…_to send_ my aunt back to death as soon as I arrived here, all of this won't happen.

Kazami won't have to die…

"Ms. Mikami..."

I confronted my aunt, in her teacher persona, after Yomiya managed to calm the furious Naoya down. After Kazami's body was moved away, school was closed temporary and other students started to go home, Ms. Mikami returned to the faculty room, while Kubodera and the rest of the teachers have a meeting inside Mr. Seito's room.

"Yes, Sakakibara-kun?" Ms. Mikami turned to look at me. She's clearly depressed by the events that unfold, but nevertheless remained her calm personality like a professional teacher. With everything that's happened, I have to admire her patience in dealing with the situation.

Naoya's parting words still rang in my ears.

* * *

_"Now!" Naoya demanded, his trademark joyful personality completely gone from him. "Kill her now! I don't care what will happen! Just make sure nobody dies again!"_

_"But..."_

_"No buts! Or I'll do it myself! I can't stand this anymore!"_

_"Just calm down! Both of you!" Yomiya yelled._

_"Naoya, this isn't Kouichi's fault. Kazami's death is an accident, nothing more. Accidents happen."_

_"THIS. WAS. NOT. AN. ACCIDENT!" Naoya screamed._

_"SHUT UP!" I finally snapped. Luckily there's no other people in the vicinity, otherwise there'll be a lot to explain._

_"Goddamnit, fine! I'll go kill Ms. Mikami now! Are you happy now!?"_

_Naoya just gave me a furious look._

_"Now, I'm gonna do what I should've done a month ago, but I need you two to do a favor for me." I said._

_"What?" Yomiya asked._

_"It's just...things aren't safe anymore. If...if what I'm going to do don't solve anything, I need both of you to look out for our friends. Yomiya, you and Mei were close, keep an eye out for her, and Naoya...go to Izumi's home...tell her about what happened, and look out for her, okay?" I explained._

_"And what are you going to do if it doesn't work?" Yomiya asked._

_"Remember Ryoko's diary? She said that she went to the public library before she died. Maybe you and Mei should go there, find whatever things you can. I'll meet you all at Inoya Cafe. Izumi mentioned meeting me there this evening..."_

_"It's a deal." Naoya finally said, though I can still sense the hostility in his voice. "But if I find out Ms. Mikami's still alive the next day, I can't guarantee what will happen to her...and you."_

_And with that threat, he quickly left the school building. _

_My friendship between me and Naoya is completely torn..._

* * *

"Sakakibara-kun? What's on your mind? You've been standing there silent for a while now?"

Ms. Mikami words brought me back to my sense.

"Ah! No, ma'am. I was just..."

Damn it...not this feeling again.

Ms. Mikami walked up to me, and put her hand on my shoulder.

"Sakakibara-kun, I understand that what happened today traumatized you. Tomohiko-kun's...a great student, and a better friend. His loss is very hard for all of us..."

I stayed silent, not knowing what to say.

"Maybe you'll feel better when you get home, student. Don't worry, everything will get better eventually."

_It won't unless I...do what needs to be done._

Ms. Mikami gently patted my back, then walked toward her table. Her back is turned to me.

_Now's my chance._

I quickly reached inside my school briefcase, before bringing out a _gun_.

Now, now, somebody must be wondering, where the hell did I get a gun? Well, I did mention that during the past nine years, there were times when I felt like I'm giving up, that I can't go on anymore. Now, what's a better way to take your own life than a gun? It's fast, reliable and painless, well, I thought it'll be painless, but who knows? Nobody ever survive to tell the tale.

I found my grandfather's old pistol inside my home. From the looks of it, my guess is that it was used way back when my grandpa was still a soldier in the Second World War. He used to tell me how that pistol saved his life and his comrades more than once during the war, and that it was one of his most precious treasure. He gave it a nickname 'Lifesaver', an ironic name for a tool that was use to kill people...

Now, I'm gonna use it again, to save my own friends like my grandpa saved his comrades.

Besides, if a death by a bullet to the head is really painless, then it'll be best...for my aunt.

I slowly pointed my gun at the back of Ms. Mikami's head.

At this range, I won't miss, no matter how bad my aim is.

Hesitation came to my mind once again.

_Now, damn it! Pull the trigger!_

_...I can't!_

_Do you really want your friends to die again? _

_But I can't kill her!_

_You did that once before, this is no different!_

_Different my ass! It's my aunt we're talking about here!_

_Just pull the fucking trigger, goddamnit!_

"SHUT UP!" I yelled out loud in frustration, causing Ms. Mikami to turn back to look.

"What's wro-"

And then she saw the gun pointing at her.

"-Sakakibara-kun, stay calm...don't do anything rash..." She said in a calm, gentle voice, almost too gentle for a woman who's about to be killed.

"I'm-"

"-Kouichi..." Her voice trembled now, I can sense the fear in it.

_It's just like that last time...when she's lying under the debris outside that burning mansion..._

"Kouichi, please. Don't do this..." Ms. Mikami, no, Reiko-san, said slowly.

"I'm...I'm terribly sorry, Reiko-san...Forgive me...I have to do this...It's the only way..." I told her.

"Please, Kouichi...I'm...I'm your aunt, remember? I...I love you, Kouichi..." Reiko-san smiled, the same smile she gave me the night before. She's crying, too. I can see the tears running down her cheeks.

My hand's shaking...if it's going on like this, I'm gonna miss.

_Focus, Kouichi. That's not your aunt. That's just Shizuka's spirit hosting her..._

My index finger slowly pull the trigger back.

"Don't..." Reiko shook her head. "Please...no..."

"I'm..."

**BANG!**

"...sorry."

The trigger's pulled.

Reiko's lifeless body slowly crumble onto the floor. Blood spattered all over the place, including my body.

_My god, what have I done._

The gun fell from my hand, I sank onto the floor, shocked at what I just did.

_Damn it. Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!_

I started crying, as hard as I could. Tears flowing down my face and onto the floor, mixing with the blood underneath it.

It took me almost a minute to realize that the blood isn't there anymore...

_What the hell!?_

I lifted my face up, to see that Reiko's body's just _gone_...along with all the blood...

_What!?_

The faculty room door suddenly opened, and Masato-sensei quickly ran into the room, and saw me lying on the floor. Fortunately, he didn't see the gun.

"What the hell was that loud noise! And what are you doing here, kid!? I thought you are all supposed to go home!" He said angrily.

"Ah...I was just! I was just visiting Ms. Mikami, sir! I wanted to ask her about homework!" I replied.

Masato scratched his chin, his face full of confusion.

"Who the heck is Ms. Mikami!?"

_Aw, shit..._

"Ms. Mikami, Reiko Mikami." I repeated. "My homeroom teacher, sir."

Masato-sensei shook his head.

"I ain't got time for one of your jokes, you brat! There ain't no teachers named Mikami around here! Now go home! I need to go back to my meeting!"

And then he quickly walked back outside and slammed the door shut.

_Whew._

I sighed. He didn't discover the gun, thank god.

But...it's actually true. The dead person's body always disappeared when he or she is killed, and the memories of those around him or her are altered as if he or she is never existed.

_That's some weird supernatural thing right there..._

* * *

The next thing I know, I was walking along the streets to Inoya Cafe.

Even though I anticipated it, it's still not making it any easy on me.

_I just shot my aunt...my own aunt!_

Anyone with any slightest bit of sanity will understand how I feel.

I know she's already dead, I _definitely _know that no matter what I do, I can never save her, but...to pull that trigger, to send her back to death again, it's...not something you can accept easily.

But it's over now.

_It's over. Nobody's going to die anymore._

I kept telling myself that, to wipe away that painful feeling in my head.

_But do I really believe that?_

* * *

Inoya Cafe is surprisingly crowded today, as opposed to it being almost empty during my timeline.

I looked around, my friends aren't here yet, but I saw some of the familiar faces.

Tomoka Inose, Yuuya's stepsister, is still working here as its waitress. She's busy taking care of her customers.

And in another corner, at the bar, I saw none other than Katsumi Matsunaga, the cafe's frequent customer, and a former student of Class 3-3, year 1983.

_He's my aunt's classmate, that means he's Ryoko's classmate, too._

Tomoka finally done with her works, and quickly walked toward me.

"Sorry for the delay, sir! Our cafe is quite understaffed today. How many seats would you like?" She greeted.

"Five seats, please. My friends will be coming later."

She nodded, before noticing my school uniform.

"Are you a student from Yomi North?"

"Yes, miss. I studied in Class 3-3."

She smiled.

"Oh! You must be one of Yuuya's friends! Please follow me, sir!"

She led me to one of the tables in the darkest corner of the cafe, the very same table that me, Izumi, Naoya and Yuuya sat to discuss about the calamity from a very long time ago...

"Have a seat, young man!" She gave me another smile.

"What would you like today?"

"Ah..." I looked at the menu, trying to find something to order.

To be honest, I'm not really a big fan of coffees. It's bitter I'll prefer something cool and sweet like a lemonade or tea, but...well.

Izumi did mention that the coffee here tasted great, better try it once more.

It's been a long time since..._since that..._

_"Just take my word for it! Give it a try!"_

"Just a cup of coffee, preferably if you use Hawaiian Kona Extra Fancy beans..." I said.

Tomoka giggled. "Izumi-chan told you that? Excellent choice, sir. Coming right up!"

And then she walked away to prepare her order.

Heh...what's wrong with me?

While I wait for my coffee to arrive, I decided to walk to Matsunaga's seat. I have something to ask him.

"Um...Excuse me, but are you Katsumi Matsunaga?" I asked him.

"Yeah, what'ya want?" Matsunaga, in all his unfriendly altitude goodness, said in an annoyed voice.

"I just wanted to ask you about something..."

"Say it, be quick." He slammed his glass of beer onto the bar.

Okay...here goes nothing.

"Fifteen years ago, you studied in Class 3-3 of Yomi North, correct?"

He nodded.

"Do you know a girl named Ryoko Akiyama?"

That question finally gain his attention. He turn his face toward me, staring at me curiously.

"How di'ya know that name, kid?!" He asked me.

"I...happened to find some info about students in the previous years, that's all."

Matsunaga frowned. He drank his beer a little bit, before finally spoke

"For that matter, kid, yes. I'm Ryoko's friend, so what?"

"I just...if that's okay with you...I want to know how she died." I said slowly, trying not to upset him.

Matsunaga sighed. "Of all the questions, you asked me this? Damn brat..."

He grabbed some money from his wallet and place them on the bar.

"Keep the change." He told the waiter, before turning to me.

"Let's go to your table, we've got a lot of things to talk."

My coffee arrived, and Matsunaga's sitting across of me.

"Now, kid. What I'm about to say is...not exactly my favorite topic...so I'm gonna say it once, you got that?"

I nodded.

"Good, now, about Ryoko Akiyama, she's my friend. A good friend indeed, I'll tell ya. We used to do so many things together during our time in school, before she's..."

Matsunaga struggled a bit, but continues on anyways.

"Well, typical school life, this and that. You said you wanna know 'bout her death? Well, it was May 31st, fifteen years ago. The last time I heard from her was that she's skipping school that day. Where she went, I didn't know for sure, but I'll never forget the moment the polices came to our school the next day and my teacher announced her demise..."

So far, so good. Matsunaga's story is similar to the one in Ryoko's diary.

"How did she died, exactly?" I asked him again.

"Hmph, how very impatient of you. Right, if I remember it correctly, the polices said that she was...hit by the out-of-control car running down the hill near the public library..."

Suddenly, he leaned toward me, before whispering in my ear.

"But here's the kicker, kid. Some investigators found out much later that the car's brakes were sabotaged and was deliberately sent downhill by someone. It's not an accident, she was murdered..."

"Y-you're kidding me!" I said in disbelief. Ryoko was murdered!? Then she isn't the victim of the calamity!

I thought back about what I saw in Ryoko's diary this morning.

_As if the calamity isn't enough, now we've got some serial killer staking us around!_

Looks like she was right after all.

Somebody's trying to kill us.

But for _what?_

"Any questions, kid? 'Cause your friends are here now." He pointed to the two figures standing at the entrance; it was Yomiya and Mei.

"Um, no, nothing. Thank you for your help."

"Hmph." He grunted. "I should go now."

And then he walked toward the exit, but before he reached it, he turned back to me one more time.

"Oh, kid? Let me give you a free piece of advice. There are just something in the world that you need not to know. Ryoko will disagree with me, but I think that sometimes, the less you know, the less your risks. That's all."

And then he exited the bar.

* * *

"Who's that guy?" was the first thing Yomiya asked me.

"One of Ryoko's classmates, he gave me some insight about her death." I said.

"Yeah?"

"Well, according to him, she was murdered, probably before or after leaving the public library." I explained.

Yomiya was shocked for a bit, but Mei still maintained her calm persona.

"So, what about you guys? What did you find at the library?" I asked Mei.

Mei exchanged looks with Yomiya, before turning to me.

"From the clues we gathered inside Ryoko's diary, it appears that she was curious about the past of Shizuka Yomiyama and her family, and events that eventually led to her death..." Mei explained.

"Yeah, we also did some research of our own." Yomiya added. "Shizuka Yomiyama comes from the Yomiyama family, a family with a long-lasting history with this town, hence the town itself is named after them. Heck, did you guys even noticed my name?!"

"Yeah, yeah. You also shared the same surname as Mei, like I'm surprised." I said sarcastically.

"Very funny. Right, where'd I left at? Okay, the Yomiyama family was famous for its long line of doctor heritage. Almost every member of Yomiyama family were famous in every field of medicine. To put it simply, those Yomi guys are literally gods of Japanese Medicine."

"Yep, so what next?"

Yomiya glanced around nervously, the customers in the cafe are getting fewer now.

"It's odd...something's really odd." He said.

"What's odd? What are you talking about?" I asked, how the heck is this having anything to do with Ryoko Akiyama's death?

"Think about it! Those people were geniuses in Medicine. What does Medicine do? Saving people! Be it diseases, infections, mutations, disabilities, you name it! Now, what's the best thing you could do with Medicine? If it's really possible at all?"

I thought about it a bit.

_Medicine? What's the best thing Medicine could do to save people?_

_Saving people? Saving lives? Preserving it? No, no, you can't preserve what's already dead._

_Do something about the dead? How could we possibly...oh no..._

"Don't tell me..." I said slowly. Is what Yomiya's talking about is what I'm thinking it is?

"Resurrection." Mei answered in her emotionless voice. "Bring people back from the death..."

Suddenly, someone rushed into the cafe, and almost crashed into one of the tables.

It was Izumi.

"Izumi! Are you alright? What took you so long!?" I asked her, she's panting heavily. I could tell she's running all the way here.

"...have to...get out of...here...now!" She said weakly.

"Wha? But you just got here! What happened!? And where's Naoya!?"

Izumi put her right arm on my shoulder.

"Listen to me, Kouichi. Naoya's _dead_. He's killed by someone who's chasing me right now. We. Need. To. Get. Out of here!"

* * *

**Editor's note:** **Unexpected, huh?**

**Hell, I didn't expected this myself! Naoya's my favorite character, and I...just kill him off...DAMN!**

**Like I said before, it's gonna get **_**a lot more **_**worse from here.**

**Next chapter...coming soon.**


	9. Another Comfort

And I thought things couldn't get any more worse today.

"Come on, guys! We need to get out of here now! Before..."

Before she finished, Izumi was interrupted by Tomoka, whose face I can tell that she's definitely _not_ happy at all.

"Izumi-chan! Don't just barge into the cafe like that! You almost hit one of our customers! Now, what's your..."

Suddenly, all hell break loose.

**BANG! BANG! BANG! **

Before anyone knew it, bullets came through the windows into the cafe everywhere.

One bullet went straight into Tomoka's head.

"OH MY GOD!" Somebody yelled. Tomoka's body fell to the floor, dead.

I stood frozen, not knowing what to do.

_Everything happened so fast._

_This is too much for me!_

"GET DOWN! EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" Yomiya yelled, before pulling me down onto the floor.

Chaos is everywhere, bullets flying through the cafe, hitting everything in their path. People are screaming, Tomoka's lifeless body lied on the floor inside a pool of blood.

I looked around. Thankfully, Mei and Izumi are alright, though Mei seemed a little bit shook up by everything that's happening around her. Yomiya is doing the best he could to peek over the counter to look outside without getting himself shot dead.

"He's reloading, let's get out through the back door!" Yomiya suggested.

Izumi nodded. She pointed to the wooden door at the very back of the cafe that I never noticed before.

"Hurry! He's almost done!" Yomiya replied.

Izumi took a deep breath, before running as fast as she could to the wooden door.

**BANG! BANG! BANG!**

The gun started firing again.

"AAAH!" Izumi screamed in pain. She's hit, but managed to get into the door just in time.

_Damn it, now you're just crossing the line!_

I reached for the pistol in my briefcase. It's a six shooter, and I've already fired a bullet. Only five left.

"Go!" I told Mei and Yomiya. "I'll cover you guys!"

"Holy hell! Where did you get that thing!?" Yomiya yelled.

"JUST RUN!"

As soon as the firing stopped, Mei and Yomiya made a mad dash at the door while I slowly raised above the counter I used for cover.

Outside, I saw the shooter. He's wearing a mask so I couldn't see his face, he's reloading his pistol.

I took a deep breath, before aiming at the guy's knee.

After what he had done to my friends, I _sincerely _wanted to shoot the bastard in the head, but I'm no killer. I just need to slow him down.

_Concentrate, Kouichi. You can do this._

I fired two shots. One missed, but the other hit the shooter precisely in the knee.

I heard he groaned painfully as he sank onto the ground, that was all I needed.

I ran to the back door and join up with my friends, before exiting the cafe through the back alley, and then we all ran like hell.

* * *

"Looks like we've lost him." Yomiya said.

"Ah, my back! That bastard!" Izumi cried. She got hit in the upper back, and it's bleeding badly.

"I've already called the polices, they'll be here shortly." Yomiya said. "But where should we go now?"

"Not our homes, that's for sure." I said. "If he followed Naoya to Izumi's home, we must assume that nowhere is safe except public places."

"What about the hospital? We need to get Izumi's wound treated or else she'll pass out from blood lost!"

I knew that, damn it! I've already seen it happened to her before!

"The hospital, then." I said. "There are lots of people there. He wouldn't be crazy enough to just shoot through them to get us."

_It's just hopeful thinking._ I thought. _If he could went out of his way and attack a crowded cafe just to kill his victims, there's no telling what this guy could do and will do._

At least, it's the safest place right now. If there's one thing I learned living here, it's that everywhere in this town could turn into a killzone easily if we're not careful.

I picked up my phone, before dialed for Nurse Sanae.

"Um, hello? Nurse Sanae? It's me, Kouichi. Izumi's been shot and needs medical attention fast. Could you contact a doctor for me?-Okay, thank you very much, see you at the hospital."

Right, one less thing to worry about.

I turned to look at Izumi. She's moaning painfully.

"Hey, you alright, Izumi?" I asked worriedly.

Damn it, Izumi. You're not doing this to me again!

"I'm..I'm fine! I'll just..." She keeps on walking, but soon after, started limping, breathing hard. She's _definitely_ not fine.

"No, you're bleeding hard, Izumi. Don't do this. You'll just pass out."

I walked alongside her before putting her arm across my shoulder to support her.

"...Heh...you idiot..." She mumbled. Her face's getting pale now.

I'm _not_ giving up on her this time.

* * *

As I predicted, Izumi fainted halfway to the hospital. Me and Yomiya had to carry her all the way there while Mei look out for us in case that shooter's coming back.

At least we made it to the hospital with no further incident. Sanae and a group of doctors greeted us before quickly bring Izumi into the Intensive Care Unit.

We waited and waited. Time passed so slowly while we waited outside the operation room while the doctors tried to save Izumi.

"Three deaths in one day. Goddamnit, I hate this town!" Yomiya said.

"Yeah, kinda almost like someone or..._something_ really doesn't want us to live." I said.

Mei stayed silent. She hadn't say anything since we left the cafe.

I paced back and forth, worried about Izumi. It doesn't help with the fact that I've already seen her died in front of me once before, and I'm powerless to do anything to save her. Her death was my fault. Everybody that died, died because of me, because I hesitated.

Naoya's also dead because of me. Naoya, who's not supposed to die...

I'm so useless.

After so long time has passed, Sanae ran up to us, before declaring happily that the doctors managed to remove the bullet from Izumi's body and stopped the bleeding, and that she's safe now and being moved into the normal unit, but she had to stay overnight.

All of us sighed with relieve. At least there's some good news today, after everything that's happened.

Some polices arrived at the hospital moments later, and me, Mei and Yomiya got questioned about the attack on the cafe. We've also informed that the shooter also previously shot a boy, none other than Naoya Teshigawara, to death while pursuing Izumi.

"First of all, I must say I'm impressed with how you all dealt with the situation, but can you explain about the pistol in your briefcase?" The police chief asked.

"Ah..." Damn it, I completely forgot about that gun!

"We inspected the crime scene, and only found traces of two bullets fired, but this pistol, six shooter, has only three shots left in it. That can only mean one thing; it was fired once before the attack on the cafe."

He leaned toward me, looking at me curiously.

"Now, since only you carried that gun, that means _you're _the one who fired it..."

That's it, game over. There's no excuse now. I'm going to jail...

I didn't say anything. The police chief continued to stare at me for a while, before gave up and sighed loudly.

"Well, it's illegal for someone to carry a gun walking around, especially for kids like you, but since you're too young, there's no charges pressed against you for this. Besides, you're just using it in self-defense. I'll just pretended that all of this didn't happen and let you go for once. With that killer on the loose, we've got too much jobs on our hands right now."

Seriously? He's letting me go?

"Just make sure you never do this kind of thing again. It's dangerous even for someone with proper training to carry loaded guns around. I'll have to report to your grandparents about this, though. Hopefully you can take their lecture, but it's for your own safety." He explained.

"And don't worry about your friend, kid. She is safe now. I'll have my officers cooperate with the hospital security and guarded her until she's healed." The police chief assured me. Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better at all.

"And what about the other students, sir?" I asked.

"I've informed the officials at Yomi North about the attacks. They've agreed to cooperate with us in protecting the students. From here on out, there'll be polices guarding the school every day until the shooter is caught." He explained.

"Thank you, sir. That means a lot to us." I said miserably.

The police chief gave me an assuring smile, before walking away.

Izumi's parents also visited their daughter in the evening, before thanking us for saving her.

"So, what should we do now?" Yomiya asked me.

I thought about what I learned today. According to Ryoko's diary, some of the deaths were not caused by the calamity, but instead got murdered by someone. Ryoko's also one of those victims.

Matsunaga also warned me that 'the less you know, the less your risks'.

"That man...the man who attacked us, don't you think he has something to do with the calamity?" I asked Yomiya.

"What? You think he's the devil himself?"

"Not funny, Yomiya."

"Damn it, you need to lighten up a bit!" He jokingly said, before went back to his serious face.

"It's obvious, isn't it? We found out something we aren't supposed to know, and now somebody is hunting us down to make sure we never get a chance to find the whole truth and tell everyone about it." He explained.

"You mean...that stuff with the Yomiyama family?"

"Maybe. I don't know. But if that secret's important enough for someone to do everything he could, even killing, to protect it, we can all assume that it could really shortened our life expectancy, heh, as if it isn't short enough already..."

I leaned on the wall, my arms crossed, thinking about what Yomiya's just said. It does make sense when I think about it.

Something we've found, whatever it is, somebody doesn't want us to live to tell about it.

Maybe that's why Ryoko, and all the other people before her, got murdered.

"Anyways, you haven't answered me, what should we do now? I don't wanna walk home alone, not with that bastard still out there, and I'm not planning to stick around in this hospital until tomorrow, either." Yomiya said.

I looked at Mei. She's back to her usual, quiet self.

"Hey, you alright, Mei?" I asked. Mei just nodded in response.

"Listen, Mei. I maybe asking too much from you, but, could you let Yomiya used your home for a while? It has only one entrance and hiding spots both in the underground and the second floor..."

"Wait..." Mei interrupted. "How did you know about my home...oh..."

She stopped, before realizing that I _did_ tell her I'm from the future, so I knew how her home looks like.

"Nevermind, please continue." She finished.

"Ah...yeah, like I said, it's the safest place right now. Besides, I don't think that shooter saw your face yet, so you're the safest one among us." I added.

Yomiya whispered to me. "Hey, what the hell are you thinking?! I'm not dragging her into this, you know?"

"She's in danger as much as we are, Yomiya, I needed you to protect her." I said. "After all, you're the one who know her best, right? She'll be fine with you. Just, make sure you do everything you could to protect her, okay? "

"If you say so," Yomiya replied. "What 'bout you? Hopefully you're not stupid enough to walk home alone after all this."

"I'll..." I glanced at the door leading to Izumi's room. I just can't leave her alone like this, even though the police chief assured me that they will protect her until she's healed, but...

"I'll stay with Izumi tonight." I finally said. "With everything that happened today, I guess she needed someone to be with her."

Yomiya just chuckled. "It's your choice, man. Come on, Mei, it's getting dark now. Let's go to your house."

* * *

After Yomiya and Mei went home, I entered Izumi's room. She's lying on her bed, looking outside the window. The sight outside seemed familiar. The sunset sky over the town of Yomiyama always gave me a chilling feeling when I look at it, but it also mixed up with some sadness.

This town has so many things happened to it, and none of them are good.

"Oh, I didn't notice you." Izumi said weakly when she saw me, but still managed a little smile.

I smiled back. At least her condition's better now.

"The doctors told me the bullet went straight into my left lung. Damn, that was hurt as hell."

"Last time I saw you like this, you were...worse." I said.

"Heh, don't remind me."

I walked to her bed, before sitting on the seat near it.

"I can't...I can't watch you die again. After what happened to Kazami, Naoya and Tomoka, losing you again is just too much for me."

Izumi didn't say anything.

"After...after what happened at that blasted mansion, I thought I was...goddamnit, I'm like this again! I'm..."

Izumi caught me by surprise when she held her hand in mine.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm fine now. I ain't going down that easily, you know? Stop thinking depressing thoughts." She said. "We're still alive, that's the best thing you could ask for, right?"

"You don't understand, Izumi." I argued. "You weren't in my place back then. Most of our friends were dead, and the killings were everywhere! Even...even you..."

I'm... Damn it, how could I explain this to her?

I thought I was getting over my friends' deaths, but seeing everyone again, it keeps brought back old, painful memories.

I thought I have the power to save them this time, yet I can't.

How the hell couldn't I save them!?

"What would you do if I die, Kouichi?" She asked.

"I...I don't know." I admitted. "I'm trying my best to prevent that..."

"I would've done the same thing to save my friends, Kouichi, but are you willing to sacrifice everything you loved to save them?"

"What are you talking about?"

Izumi sighed. "You told me yourself that back then, I'm desperate enough to just kill you and Mei because I believed it would end the calamity, and before me, my friends, Kazami, Takako and Yumi were all willing to do the same thing, and that didn't end well for them..."

Izumi paused to drink some water, before continued.

"To save those we loved, we're willing to do anything, even killing our own friends. Even if we succeeded, is it really worth it?"

Hey, hey. Don't get all philosophical on me.

"What I'm trying to say, Kouichi, is that you have to accept that sometimes, you just can't save everyone. I got my position as the countermeasure officer knowing that. How could we know when the calamity's started if there's no one dying? It's a harsh truth, but turning a blind eye to it won't make anything better."

Heh, even when she's like this, she's still giving me some good lectures.

And I'm supposed to be an adult, yeah, go figure.

"Either way, we're ending this, Kouichi. I know you could do it. That's your priority, your mission, and I'm counting on you."

Izumi gave me a smile. It's not much, but it managed to cheer me up a bit.

"You're sure full of surprises, Izumi." I smiled back.

That statement actually made Izumi giggled, something I rarely seen from her. "I'm always full of surprises, you idiot. It's one of women's attractive points, don't you know that?"

"Heh, then I think Mei Misaki will get the S rank on that." I said.

"Hey! You're saying I'm not attractive enough for you!?"

"I'm just joking!"

Silence.

"Anyways, thanks for saving me." Izumi said.

"Wha? I didn't do anything! You should thank Yomiya for that. After all, he did carry you all the way here..."

"...with you help," Izumi added. "And you insisted that I'm in no condition to walk and is the first to help me stay on my feet, and also contacted the hospital to make a room for me. Come on, be honest with yourself, you _did_ save me, Kouichi, and I thank you for that, truly."

She gave me another heartwarming smile.

"So, Sanae said you'll be staying here with me tonight?"

"Yeah, I already called my grandparents. They scolded me bad for that gun business, but they approved, so, like it or not, I'm staying here." I told her.

"Great. I needed someone to play pranks on tonight." Izumi jokingly said.

We continued to talk over things that happened today. I explained how I met the principal, investigating clues left in Ryoko's diary with Yomiya and Mei, Kazami's untimely death and how I sent Ms. Mikami...Reiko, back to death.

At first Izumi seemed confused when I talked about Ms. Mikami, before she realized that it must be the effects of memory alteration from the calamity.

"So, that means Naoya and Tomoka's deaths were not caused by the calamity. They're just gunned down by that madman, nothing more." Izumi concluded.

"Hopefully, the calamity's over. The only thing we have to worry about now is how to stop it _permanently_. The clues in Ryoko's diary could help us do that."

"_If_ we don't get ourselves killed first. Shame that Naoya has to die. He's annoying, but he did save me from that shooter."

"Naoya saved you?"

"Yeah, he shielded me from that man when the gun was fired, telling me to run away. He never stood a chance." Izumi said miserably.

"He's a great friend...probably the best I could've ask for." I added.

"Yeah..."

Before I knew it, the sky outside went dark. A bright crescent moon shone among the stars in the sky, mixing with the lights from the houses in the distance. Even I have to admit it's a very beautiful sight. I never knew before that the town of Yomiyama could have a scenery like this, considering everything this town had...

Nurse Sanae checked up on us from time to time, bringing Izumi pills and food. She's still the same friendly, cheerful nurse I knew. Izumi's also getting better. Two hours after the bullet removal, she could limp to the bathroom to do her business, with a little help from mine, of course. That's the most awkward five minutes ever in my life.

Not that I'm complaining. Though that one slap from Izumi hurts like hell.

After a while, she fell asleep. I kept on looking after her for a while, but eventually my exhaustion took a toll on me, and I finally drifted off to sleep.

But that wasn't the end of the day for me. There's someone waiting for me in my dreams...

_So, how's your day, Kouichi?_

* * *

**Editor's note: Ugh, the more a write, the more it sucks, right? Damn it, now I can't decide whether my story's gonna be horror, sci-fi or thriller...or all of them...**

**Quality is not what I aimed for in this story, I'm more focused toward the plot. If you find some points in the story sounded weird, that's because my three years experience of English studying in high school isn't helping me at all, I'm sorry for that! Hopefully, my future fics will be better than this one...**


	10. Another Question

_It's you again. What do you want from me now?_

_"Oh, nothing, just checking on your progress."_

_Progress? Three people died today, damn it! Two of them were my friends! I shot my own aunt today, and we nearly got killed by some madman! You call that progress!?_

_"At least you've made some discovery about the origins of the calamity, AND end the calamity for this year. I'd say that progress."_

_Screw your progress! I'm not gonna watch any more of my friends killed!_

_"You can't just turn your back on your mission, Kouichi! That's why I brought you back here in the first place!"_

_Even if it means I have to watch my friends die? No way! I've had enough of this!_

_"So you're okay with having the calamity happened every year and more people die? As long as they're not your friends or closed ones? I thought you're better than this, Kouichi Sakakibara..."_

_._

_._

_._

_No. I...I want to stop the calamity, really. But I can't bear to watch my friends die again._

_"If you pull all of this right, your friends won't have to die, Kouichi."_

_Do you even have anything to prove that? Can you see the future? You don't have anything to reassure me that nobody's going to die._

_"Trust me, Kouichi, I've seen so many futures that you wouldn't believe."_

_What do you mean? Is there something you're not telling me?_

_._

_._

_._

_"The truth is, Kouichi, this was not the first time I sent your memories to your past self."_

_Wha? How the hell?!_

_"Listen to me, Kouichi. All of this, all we've done, here, in this future, is to find what caused the calamity of Yomiyama so we could end it, to create a possible future where everyone could live in this town in peace, no matter what we have to sacrifice in order to achieve it."_

_So?_

_"Like I said, this wasn't the first time I've done anything like this. You, or specifically, your memories, were sent back to your past selves, to try and stop the calamity. All of them failed. You, of course, is our latest attempt to fix this thing."_

_...Why me? Why choose me? Why am I so special? Mei could've done the same job as me! Or Naoya. Or whoever that survived the calamity._

_"Because you're the only one who survived in ALL incarnations, Kouichi. All the others, Naoya, Mei, Yuuya... They all have a future where they themselves fell victims to the calamity. But you...you survived, Kouichi. You survived no matter what. That makes you the ideal choice to change the history."_

_I still don't understand... Just because I'm not dying means I'm perfect for the job?_

_"Not exactly. The point is, there is a limit to what we can do when messing with different timelines. If we choose, for example, Naoya, in stopping the calamity in one timeline. Had he actually succeeded, he must also be successful in stopping the calamity in another timeline as well, which can't be possible if that timeline's Naoya is dead. We cannot choose any other to fill in his role, because the memories will be conflicted. You cannot just insert someone else's memories into others, otherwise they'll gone crazy. We do not want that, right?"_

_Well, that sounds confusing._

_"You'll get use to it. This is a crazy world, after all."_

_All right, another question; Why choose me? I mean, you could've choose the 'me' in your time. Instead, you used 'me', who's just recovering from grief nine years after the calamity in my year, to be send back into the past._

_"Well, thirty years from now, almost all of your memories about the calamity was lost, Kouichi. There's no use if I sent the memories of your future self that doesn't know anything into the past, right? You, on the other hand, has still retained your old memories about it, plus you have the advantage of having an adult mind capable of making difficult decisions, so you're the perfect choice."_

_I don't think that having an 'adult mind' could really count as an advantage, judging from what happened today..._

_"Well, no comment about that."_

_Right, if I'm so perfect, then why the hell are my predecessors failed in their job? It's not like they got KIA or something, huh?_

_"They failed because they choose to save their friends over stopping the calamity permanently. It's one of your flaws, Kouichi. You're just too attracted to your friends. Even then, you still can't save everyone."_

_What's so wrong with trying to protect my friends? What if they're your friends!? Huh? What if your friends started dying in front of you, and you can't do any fucking thing to save them!? What would you do!? That's how I feel! And I'm sure as hell not coming here just to watch them die again!_

_"What if there's a way to save everyone, but you're just too ignorant to find it?"_

_._

_._

_._

_What did you say?_

_"What if finding the truth behind the calamity can save everyone? Even if not in one timeline, maybe in the others? What if finding the truth gives you a chance to stop the calamity before it even begin?"_

_I..._

_"I'm not saying it's going to be easy, Kouichi. You have to watch your friends die, again and again. Sacrificing your own happiness to put an end to this madness, but it'll be all worth it."_

_So what if you're wrong? What if there's no way to stop the calamity? What if nobody can stop it? What if everything we did is all for nothing?_

_"I believe we have our rights to try, Kouichi."_

_._

_._

_._

_So, I'm supposed to do this no matter what? No other choice?_

_"Well, if you won't do it, then we can always find the other 'yous' in other timelines to do the job."_

_What makes you so sure I can pull this off anyways? You've already seen the results as of today._

_"Because if there's anyone who could stop the calamity, it's you, Kouichi. You're the only one who could."_

_Hmph, when you put it that way, there's no pressure on me at all..._

_(I heard a soft giggle. It irritates me somewhat, but it's a relieve to know that at least this girl, whoever she is, isn't some emotionless manipulative bitch...)_

_"Well, you're the hero in this story, Kouichi. Of course you could do it!" _

_You're joking._

_"And you're just too naive for your own good. No wonder that Izumi girl likes you."_

_You...what!?_

_"That girl at the hospital. Your sleepy head is resting on her. Ain't that a cute sight?"_

_WHAT THE HELL!? How did!?... Damn it, wake me up! Wake me up!_

_(Another giggles from that mysterious voice)_

_"Even I have to admit, this is why I love you, too."_

_._

_._

_._

_So, are you gonna tell me now who the heck are you? Mei? Reiko? Damn it, are you even Izumi?_

_"I'll tell you when all of this is over, Kou-i-chi!"_

_Heh, you little..._

_._

_._

_._

_So, back to the serious business. Can you tell anything about that shooter who attacked us?_

_"Well, your friend Yomiya maybe right. Maybe someone doesn't want the calamity to be stopped."_

_Why the hell would anyone want that!? That's just crazy!_

_"Yomiya mentioned that the infamous Yomiyama family was a bunch of Medicine geniuses, right?"_

_Yeah._

_"Do you really think we can bring dead people back to life?"_

_Well, if my aunt Reiko could be any evidence, I'd...wait, that just makes no sense._

_"Why?"_

_I mean, yes, my aunt did come back to life, but, but it wasn't by the uses of medicines or any medical things. She's just...came back, just like that!_

_"But she did came back. A dead person came back to life."_

_And that's the reason why the calamity happened, to find and return the dead people back to death._

_"Exactly."_

_What's the point of all this anyways? Did it has anything to do with that gunman?_

_"What if...that gunman, is someone related to the Yomiyama family?"_

_What are you trying to tell me?_

_"I've been searching information about the Yomiyama family, based on what you've found today. It appeared that aside from Medicine, the Yomiyama family all shared an obsession in realizing what we called Resurrection, no matter what methods they need to use."_

_And?_

_"And everything you and your friends found out until now all led back to the Yomiyama family, who's to tell that the gunman isn't someone related to them? Maybe he doesn't want some dark secrets about the Yomiyama family to be revealed."_

_Just tell me who it is already. I can tell you can look into the past, just tell me who's the gunman so I can have the polices arrested him!_

_"That gunman is Mr. Seito, Kouichi."_

_._

_._

_._

_The hell?_

_But, but that's impossible! How could...how could he shoot his own students!?_

_"It's true, Kouichi. I've already seen him put on the mask while he finished the meeting. He was eavesdropping when you and Naoya had a banter at the locker room at school."_

_That's...that...I can't believe it._

_"It was unbelievable for me, too. He seemed like a good person. But it's him, no doubt about it. He was the one that attacked you."_

_That bastard...and he claimed he did whatever he could to stop the calamity! Damn it, I should've seen this coming. He was behind the whole thing all along! That's why he is the school principal, so he can keep staging the whole Class 3-3 curse for as long as he's in the office!_

_"Maybe Mr. Seito is related to the Yomiyama family. Who knows? Maybe he could've been the Extra one all along? I don't have enough information to confirm that. That's your job to find out. What is he planning? Why is he doing this? Then put a stop to it. Maybe you could end the calamity."_

_Yeah..._

_"Just a word a advice, be careful."_

_Will do, thanks._

_._

_._

_._

_Can I...ask you another question?_

_"Yes?"_

_You mentioned that there are other timelines like this one, right?_

_"Yeah, and of course, the other 'yous' were parts of them to stop the calamity."_

_And you mentioned them saving the other students. Is...is Izumi...survived, in some of the timelines?_

_"Yes, Kouichi. Izumi did manage to survive in some timelines, all thanks to you sending Ms. Mikami back to death. In some, however, she died a horrible and painful death because you were too late, no offense..."_

_Yeah..._

_"Why? Is there something...special...about her?"_

_You could really say that._

_"Tell me more about it."_

_Huh?_

_"Just tell me!"_

_All right, all right. So, how should I begin this? I first met her a year and a half before I joined Yomi North. Damn, I was just remembering it, right now. I was in Yomi North because of my aunt's funeral. Goddamnit, that's why I can't remember it!_

_"Just continue on, Kouichi."_

_Anyways, yeah, she was saddened by something, I didn't know exactly. She slipped, and I helped her up. I didn't meet her again until I joined Yomi North, where she greeted me in the hospital. You probably know the rest of the story, up until that...that mansion incident..._

_"So, how do you feel about her?"_

_I...well...she was friendly to me, aside from Naoya and Yuuya. One of the few friends I had during my time inside Class 3-3, but she was cold toward Mei. I recently asked her about this, and she told that it was because of the negative personality that she had. What I feel about her? Ah...I'm...feeling sad about her. What she had to go through, her duty as the countermeasure officer and all, it's not something any fifteen years old could take at all. Every death that happened from the calamity in her point of view is her fault, as she was supposed to find a way to protect them. I can't imagine how she could cope with all of that. She...affected my life so much. I even named my daughter after her."_

_"A very sad and twisted story indeed."_

_Yeah..._

_"And what about Mei?"_

_Hmm?_

_"Your wife? What do you feel about her?"_

_Will you just gonna ask me everything? _

_"Hey, you're the one who started this, now tell me!"_

_Mei Misaki? Um? How should I put this? She has a BIG family issue, recently lost her older sister, treated as nonexistent by everyone else, and all of that's just the least of her worries. I can't help but pity her by the time I got to know her in Yomi North. We grew closer eventually when both of us were declared the Extra ones. I took care of her because nobody does. She's just...needed someone to understand her. The problem is, she's too shy to admit her feelings. Had she told everyone that Ms. Mikami is the Extra one, all of this wouldn't have happened._

_"If you could save either her or Izumi, who would you save?" _

_Why do you even ask that kind of thing!? _

_"Izumi herself just told you recently, wasn't she? You can't save everyone. What if you had to choose between saving either her or Mei? What would you do?"_

_I...I don't want to choose. They both...suffered too much. I'd rather die than seeing each of them die. _

_"So you'll die for them, or die with them if you can't protect them?"_

_Definitely. I'll go through hell and back just to save this two._

_"Interesting...very interesting."_

_._

_._

_._

_"Well, looks like I have to go now. There should be some time until morning. Up until then, sweet dreams, Kouichi."_

_Hey._

_"What?"_

_Thank you for listening to me. Whoever you are, thank you very much, and I love you too._

_"Heh, you Casanova boy..."_

* * *

**Editor's note: Whew! Another chapter down!**

**Seriously, I shipped both Kouichi x Izumi and Kouichi x Mei. Sometimes I have the urge to write a fic where all of them are together! Damn it, I just love these three! LOL Threesomes rule the world, people.**

**And about Mr. Seito thing, I was planning to reveal him as the culprit much, much later, but due to the time limit, I have to cut some of the reveals and mash them up in one chapter. Don't worry! There's still some twists left that I didn't reveal yet.**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	11. Another Secret

You know, sometimes I'm having difficulties separating dreams from reality.

I don't know what the hell that girl do to my brain in the future, but the transition between that dream and here, it's just...ah, it's hard to explain.

Anyways, at six in the morning, I woke up, at the sight of Izumi staring directly at me.

"Finally, you woke up! My chest's about to go numb."

Oh crap.

"Wha! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! Ah...I'm not!..Er..."

Then Izumi just burst out laughing

"I'm just joking! Man, you're just too naive for your own good, you know that?"

Ah, heck, not this again...

"Anyways, wipe off your drools, will you? That's so embarrassing."

Ah, damn it. I'm making a fool of myself again...

What a way to start a day.

I quickly wipe off my drools, before walking to grab some water to drink. The clock reads 6:25 AM. Izumi's watching the news on the TV which, of course, describing about the shocking events occurred yesterday, a freak accident that cost the life of Tomohiko Kazami, and the attack on Inoya Cafe by a mysterious gunman that resulted in the deaths of Naoya Teshigawara and Tomoka Inose.

"All those channels out there, and you picked this?" I asked.

"It's not like there's anything worth watching either..." Izumi sighed.

"By the way, good morning." She said.

"Yeah, have a good night sleep?"

"Well, not so much with your head on my chest."

"I told you, I'm sorry!"

"And I told you I'm just joking!"

"Then why...!?"

"Don't think I forgot about last night! You peeping Tom!"

"It's just an accident!"

"Just wait till I get out of this bed, take that!"

"Wha!?"

She threw her pillow at me!

"What's that for!?"

Izumi laughed. "For drooling on me!"

"Why, you?!"

I gritted my teeth while Izumi just gave me a mischievous smile.

And that's a somewhat great morning we had...

It's Friday, so technically the school's still open, but I decided to skip the day. It's not like anything good will come if I go to school. Plus if Mr. Seito really is the killer, then the school is the most dangerous place to go right now. So I stayed with Izumi for a bit longer and tell her about my dream, about Mr. Seito being the shooter from yesterday.

"So, this principal is the killer? Heh, I should've guessed it. Twenty years in office with all this calamity business and he did nothing about it. He's behind it all along. No matter what he wants with us, we can't let this continue!" Izumi said.

"Yeah."

"It's a shame you don't put a bullet in his head yesterday. That would've make things much more simpler."

"Hey, I'm no killer! I can't just shoot someone to death! Even if that man's one of the most notorious mass murderer ever."

"Hmph. So, any news from Yomiya and Mei?"

"Not yet, I'll call him right now."

I picked up my phone and dialed for Mei because I don't have Yomiya's numbers.

It took too long, almost long enough to make me worry, but Mei finally answered.

I almost forgot that she doesn't really like to use phones.

"Mei Misaki here."

"Mei? Thank god you're alright! What took you so long!?"

I pressed on the speaker button on my phone so that Izumi could hear, too.

"I was trying to find Yomiya. He disappeared from the house this morning."

"What!?"

"He left a note in my room. It says that he's going to investigate something about the calamity."

"That idiot! What if Mr. Seito finds him?!" Izumi cursed.

"Right. Stay calm, Mei. Are you alone right now?"

"No. My mother's here, but she's downstairs."

"Great. Just stay there. Don't go anywhere. I'll find Yomiya."

"But..."

"Just do as I say, Mei!" I suddenly shouted into the phone. Mei's line became quiet.

_Oh hell..._

"Hey, maybe you're too rough with her..." Izumi whispered.

Damn it...

What's wrong with me?!

"...Mei? Are you there?"

No reply.

"I'm...sorry. I was just..."

Frustrated? Angry? Disappointed?

I don't know anymore.

It took a while before she finally answered.

"I'm still here."

Her voice's trembling, I can feel it.

Damn it, now I hurt her feelings...

"Okay," I took a deep breath, trying to focus. I can't lose my mind over something like this. "What did Yomiya left in his note, Mei?"

"H-he said he's going to the public library again. He told me that he might've missed something yesterday."

"Got it. Thank you, Mei. Take care of yourself."

"S-Sakakibara-kun?"

"Yes?"

"If...if you find Yomiya-kun, please keep him safe..."

"I..."

I hesitated.

_Don't make promises you can't keep, Kouichi._ Reiko-san always told me.

Up until now, I'm _not_ doing a good job of protecting the people I cared for.

I'm...not sure if I'm up for this.

"I promise, Mei. If I find Yomiya-san, I'll keep him safe. Don't worry."

"...Thank you, Kouichi."

"Wait!" Izumi suddenly spoke. She took the phone from my hand.

"Mei, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Akazawa-san?"

"I'll be discharged from hospital this afternoon. If you don't mind, could I come by to your house today?"

"Why?"

"I...I guess I still own you a few apologizes and...let's just say I wanted to know you better."

"It won't be necessary, Akazawa-san."

"I'm just! I..."

Izumi started to panic. She used her hand to cover the phone while making a face that somewhat tells_ Why the hell is it so difficult to talk to her!?_

I took the phone back from her.

"Listen, Mei. I know how you feel about Izumi, but it isn't like that anymore. You have to let them all go. She's trying to be nice to you. Besides, you'll have someone you can talk to while I go find Yomiya. Give her a chance, okay?"

The truth is, I really wanted them to become friends. After what happened last time, I can't imagine what will happen if the hatred between those two still lingered while there's a mad killer on the loose.

In times like this, all we have is each other. We can't afford to lose that also.

"...Okay." Mei replied.

"Great. I'll see you soon."

And then she hang up.

I looked at Izumi, who's also staring at me.

"Um, thanks." Izumi said.

"It's alright. Even for me it took quite a while before she finally opens up with me. You two are sure gonna have a lot of catching up to do. Just make sure you both take care of yourselves. I don't wanna lose any more friends, you know?"

Izumi just nodded.

I reached for a copy of Ryoko's diary in my briefcase. I made them yesterday when Yomiya lent it to me during Izumi's treatment.

I handed the diary to her.

"In the meantime, check out this diary. Maybe you'll find something we missed. If you and Mei find something important, or if there's something wrong, call me immediately. Deal?"

"Deal."

I looked at the clock. 6:57 AM.

"Right. I need to go now before that idiot Yomiya got himself into trouble. Take care of yourself, okay?"

"Right."

I grabbed my things and head for the door, when suddenly Izumi called me.

"Kouichi!"

"Yes?"

I looked at Izumi. Her eyes stared fixed on me. Her face showing a serious expression.

"Be careful, okay?"

Her voice sounded worried.

I just gave her a reassuring smile, before closing the door.

* * *

As I ran as fast as I could toward the public library, something crossed my mind.

_Wait a sec, it's just seven in the morning, The library isn't open yet!_

Then why the hell is Yomiya doing there!?

Goddamnit, Yomiya! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!

Three minutes later, I arrived at the closed public library. No one's there.

_Where the hell could he be?_

The only places closest to the library is just a minimart and a small park. Nothing much.

Wait. There's more.

Just in front of the library, a steep downhill street lane ran straight down to the main street.

It's familiar view, because this town has a lot of steep lanes like this.

One of those lanes led straight into Yumi Ogura's house. I remembered how an out-of-control excavator ran downhill into her house, killing her brother's instantly and triggering her insanity that eventually led to her death at that mansion.

It was raining that day.

I looked at the sky. The clouds are gathering. It's gonna be a rainy morning soon.

_Bad things always come during the rain._ My grandma used to scare me like that, but...

_Aya Ayano also died that day, along with her entire family, during the stormy rain._

Goddamnit, focus!

I stared at the empty street in front of me.

_This was where Ryoko Akiyama died._

A sabotaged car, huh? Seito, you bastard. And you said she's your favorite pupil.

Wait a sec.

At the day of her death, she was finding clues about the calamity inside the library.

But Yomiya and Mei didn't find anything more than I already know. Unless we're missing something...

What if she was to go to someplace else after the library?

_...that group picture with that ghostly boy in it. Akira Matsumoto, isn't it?_

_...Still, something's buggering me about this Shizuka girl..._

_...I need to find some information about her..._

_...Biography of the Yomiyama family?_

Yomiyama, Akira, Yomiyama, Shizuka. Damn it! Why do things have to be so confusing!?

Right, okay. Concentrate, Kouichi...

_If you were her, what would you do?_

Where would I go from the library?

If I know everything I need to know about the calamity, then the first thing I should do is to get my ass back to school to tell my friends about it immediately.

Ryoko may tried to do that, but got murdered by Seito before she has a chance.

_What about the phone? She could've use the mobile phone to call her friends!_

Er...okay. Cut that choice out...

Now, she didn't phone her friends, she didn't go back to the school, then where did she headed to?

_Shizuka Yomiyama...information...biography..._

_Birth...death..._

Cause of death? Meh, I can't believe Seito. Maybe he lied to me about her death.

Maybe she's not even involved in all of this.

But...I can't left her out of this case yet.

_What about that Yomiya look-a-like? Akira Matsumoto? Mr. Chibiki mentioned that he committed suicide after Shizuka was killed._

Now, who's this Akira Matsumoto?

If he's the one who knew Shizuka the most, then maybe I could find something from him.

_But he's dead. Come on, Kouichi, what are you thinking!?_

Damn it, this is getting nowhere at all.

Suddenly, someone's hand grabbed me from behind.

_OH SHI-!_

"Oi, oi! Calm down! It's me!"

It was Yomiyama Misaki.

"Damn it! You almost gave me a heart attack!" I yelled angrily. What's with this guy!?

"And what the hell are you doing here alone!? That shooter's still loose out here, you know!?"

"Hey, somebody needs to find the whole truth behind all of this, right? The calamity's not gonna stop by itself." He crossed his arms.

"You don't need to find anything anymore. Mr. Seito is the killer." I told him.

"Mr. Seito? You mean the principal!?" Yomiya's eyes widened in shock. "B-but how could that be possible!? Where did you get that from!?"

"I...well, you remember when I told you that somebody in the future's been helping me? Yeah, she told me that he's the one behind all this."

Yomiya sighed, before saying something shocking.

"Seito's already dead, Kouichi."

What. The. Hell?

"N-no, you've got it all wrong. Seito's the principal of our school, remember? I just met Seito yesterday! In his office! He's there, I'm sure of it!"

Yomiya didn't respond, but just handed me a tape cassette along with a small portable radio.

"Just listen to it, the librarian told me that someone left the tape with her, and told that to give it to the first person who's investigating about Ryoko's death. I forgot about to take it with me yesterday, but I broke into the library this morning to retrieve it" Yomiya explained.

"You what?!"

"Just put in the cassette! Time's short, you know?"

I put the tape in the radio before pressing the play button.

_What's going on now?_

The tape began to play, and a male voice, probably a middle-aged man judging by his tone, spoke.

"Um, okay. I'm gonna keep this brief, I don't think I can keep this up for long, someone's trying to kill me..."

The voice is trembling, it sounded panicked.

"My name is Yoshino. I'm a reporter working on the mysterious death of Ryoko Akiyama, the student who was hit by an out-of-control car running down the hill a couple of years ago and died in front of the town's public library. The locals said it's an accident. Heh, tough luck getting me to believe that crap. She's clearly been murdered! But I guess that's not our concern right now."

The speaker took a deep breath, before continue.

"On the day of her death, Ryoko deliberately skip the school and went to the public library to do something. I don't know for sure, but I got my hands on her diary. Everything inside it doesn't make a goddamn sense to me! The calamity, the deaths, Shizuka Yomiyama, hell, all of this could be written as a book or something! Anyways, the last page of the diary has something real odd written in it. It says 'There are more than one Extra ones.'"

_More than one?_

"I thought we found everything inside Ryoko's diary!" I said.

"I was just knowing about it, too. Probably the last page was torn away by the time I found it. That book's ancient, you know?" Yomiya said, then we continue listening to the recording.

"At first it didn't ring any bell to me, but she did mention two names that interested me; Shizuka Yomiyama and Mr. Seito. Shizuka got my attention because I once interviewed her parents about their involvements in a strange, not-exactly-sane cult that's devoted in bringing people back from death..."

This town has a cult? What the hell's going on? I never knew about that before...

"As anyone know, Yomiyama's a big name in the Medicine field, with their ultimate goal being Resurrection. Heh, those guys are either geniuses or lunatics. Anyways, they joined the cult, trying to do their weird, almost barbaric customs to defy nature...using children...students...goddamnit, I can't believe I'm talking about this again!"

Something tells me this is not gonna end well...

"Eventually, the townspeople has had enough of the cult tormenting with the town. They started hunting down the members, with the Yomiyamas on the top of the list, and kept it all a secret, and they're doing a damn great job at hiding it. This information I learned was supported by what Ryoko wrote in her diary."

So...that's why Shizuka was killed. This town is so fucked up.

But...what about Mr. Seito?

"Anyways, another name kept buggering me. Mr. Seito, the _current_ principal of Yomi North..."

Yoshino paused a bit.

"But...but Seito's _dead! _He died of a cardiac arrest two days after the massacre of the Yomiyama family! I was even there at his funeral! But...but..."

His voice sounded frantic now.

"I...I saw him there...across the street...pointing a gun at me! I'm hiding now, but it seems I got a little time left, so I left this recording behind. Just...if I don't make it, anyone who discover this, make sure you _kill_ that bastard! Whoever he is, he's trying to continue the Yomiyama family's work. Chances are, he's the one who killed Ryoko, too! You cannot let this go on anymore! Just..."

And the recording ended.

"...Okay, any more surprises than this?" I said.

"Yeah, I did some searching in whatever Yoshino left behind. Clues and whatnot. It all led to the cemetery."

"The cemetery?"

"Yeah. He believed that's where the cult did their practices."

"This is not a good idea, Yomiya..." I slowly said.

Seriously, this is all getting too dangerous for anyone. We're all in over our heads.

"No matter what you say, I'll go there. If there's something that could help us stop the calamity, then I need to find it."

"Even if it gets yourself killed!?"

"Yes." Yomiya replied in a stern voice. He's really going to do this.

Good thing I brought my pistol, then. Thankfully, the polices didn't take it for inspection yesterday.

"I'll go with you." I told Yomiya. "Mei told me to keep an eye out for you in case you're trying to do something stupid."

"Heh. She's always like this when it comes to my safety. Haven't you seen how she acted when I tried to jump off the roof?"

"You're the craziest person I've ever met, damn it."

"You'll get used to it."

And with that, we departed for the cemetery.

* * *

After ten minutes, we arrived. The rain started to come down.

"Damn it, I'm gonna get sick tomorrow!" Yomiya complained.

"Quit whining. You're lucky you're still alive right now." I told him.

"You just don't know how to think positively, huh?"

I glanced around. The familiar scene of the cemetery in front of me reminded me of many things I don't want to remember.

"What are we expected to find here, anyways? I don't see anything that could be related to the calamity!"

No answer.

"Yomiya? You there?"

I turned back, and saw Yomiya walking along the trees at the back of the cemetery.

When the hell did he get there?!

"Hey! Wait for me!"

I caught up with Yomiya on a small hill in the woods, overlooking the cemetery. The rain's getting stronger. My visions started to blurred.

"Don't just...go anywhere...by yourself!"

Yomiya just pointed at the cliff behind us.

"Look!"

I turned at that direction, before noticing a small cave at the base of the cliff.

"It's a cave!" Yomiya exclaimed.

Yeah, thanks for telling me the obvious.

"You think there's something in there?"

"Hell, if this is a mystery novel, then yeah. Something's definitely in there." I sarcastically said.

We decided to cut the chatter and walk toward the cave. Another reason maybe that we needed something to shelter us from the rain that's getting stronger.

When we finally got into the cave itself we found out that it wasn't just any ordinary cave. It's a _tunnel_.

"Convenient, huh? A tunnel, so far from the town, hiding in the woods? This must be the place where the cult's been gathering." Yomiya said.

I looked around. The tunnel itself doesn't seem like it was made from nature. There are signs of woods and burnt-out lamp on the ceilings.

"My grandma once mentioned the town's having a tunnel to hide from the bombings during the World War. Guess that must be it." I said.

"Good point. It also makes up for a good hiding place for some nasty secrets." Yomiya added.

"This is getting too dangerous, Yomiya." I spoke. "With this narrow spaces, escape will be impossible."

"Heh, at least I won't die alone." He jokingly replied.

"That's not helping..."

After making our ways through the narrow passage, we finally arrived at a somewhat large, dark hall.

"Good thing I bought a flashlight." I told Yomiya, before reaching inside my briefcase and pull it out, before turning it on.

The hall itself isn't that big, but it certainly could fit about a couple dozens people in here with no problem. There are wooden scaffolds in the back, a couple of ceiling lamps.

The kicker? There are skeletons...everywhere.

"Holy..."

Now, I've seen a lot of things in my life, most of it isn't good, but all this...it's...

I had to hit myself in the legs to prevent them from going numb, as I was frozen by the sight in front of me.

We literally have to slowly move step by step to avoid hitting the bones scattered throughout the hall.

"This is insanity..." Even the usually deadpan, sarcastic Yomiya blurted out in awe.

I, myself, is speechless.

"Let's find the things we need then get the hell out of here. I don't wanna stick in here even for another minute." I told him, and for once, he agreed with me.

"Yeah."

We make our way through the hall. The only object that caught our interests is a small bookshelf on the back side of the hall. There are few books left on it.

"Let's check them out." Yomiya suggested.

I read the titles of each books.

_H.P. Lovecraft's Best Collection_

_Reincarnation and Resurrection by Stephen Matheson, translated by Natsuo Kirino_

_Near Death Experiences: A Documentary by renowned Dr. Shinji Anno_

_Death Is Only A Door by Tilda Chang_

"Wow. These guys are totally nuts about life and death things..." Yomiya said.

"Wait, there's another book."

I grabbed the last book on the shelf, a notebook, then read it. Most of the paragraphs were erased. I managed to read what I could.

_June 27th, 1971_

_This is going nowhere at all. Our Father did not believe we could bring the death back to life by any simple means like praying. Only fools beg to get something they want, he said. After decades of useless chanting, we need to improvise. We need to be more physical about this...this action._

_September 14th, 1971_

_Hikawa Yomiyama, one of our newest brothers, proposed a new method today. Since we cannot change the nature, we simply let the nature changed us. In order for the dead to come back to life, the living must fill in their places. It is costly, but it's the only way. One life exchanged for another. Our first volunteer, Satsuki, committed his body to our cause. His sacrifice will never be forgotten._

_December 2nd, 1971_

_It's not working. The resurrection failed. Our Father is dying. There's nothing we could do. The townspeople are getting suspicious. After all, we did use some of the terminally-ill children as our subjects. They don't have a very long time left. If we succeeded, we might as well cured them from their sickness via resurrection. We're doing this for the good of them._

_February 18th, 1972_

_Damn that Seito! He discovered about our operations! His presence is now a threat to all of us. He must be eliminated! On the bright sight, there might be some success about our cause after all those years._

_If this worked, I might have a chance to reunite with my beloved Yui after all._

_May 7th, 1972_

_It worked! At long last! God bless Hikawa and that genius idea of his! After years of devotion and sacrifices, it finally pays off! Jun Kitoe, our long lost brother, was finally resurrected! This is a day to be remembered in our history!_

_July 10th, 1972_

_This does not bode well. One by one, our brothers and sisters got killed off by freak accidents, with no sign of stopping in sight. I might as well be the next victim myself. Worst of all, the townspeople discovered the truth about us, and they're furious. This is a dark day for all of us. Oh, is this the price we must pay for defying the nature?_

The writings ended here.

"This is an atrocity! They murdered innocent children just to resurrect someone?!" I said in disbelief. Whoever these people are, they deserved what's coming to them!

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that, Sakakibara-kun." A low, cold voice came from behind us, echoed throughout the hall.

_Oh crap. He got us!_

"W-who's there!?"

"Oh, you know exactly who I am, don't you?"

"You...you're Seito, aren't you? You bastard! You tried to kill us! Why!?" Yomiya yelled.

"But isn't Seito already dead, eh? You should've figure that out already from Yoshino's tape."

Silence.

"Why are you doing this!? This is just plain wrong! You can't just play with life like this!? How are you planning to justify everything!?" I shouted.

The voice responded by just laughing.

"Ooo, I'll tell you, young boy, but only if you get out of the cave first. Meet me at the central plaza, and I'll explain everything, _if_ you survived..."

Suddenly, the ceiling exploded, and everything shook violently.

"OH HELL!"

The rocks on the ceiling started failing down, big ones.

Me and Yomiya rushed quickly as we could to the exit,

but my friend isn't fast enough.

"ARRRHHHG!" Yomiya screamed. His leg got crushed by one of the failing rocks.

I quickly ran to help him.

"Hang on, Yomiya! I'm here!"

I tried to lift the rock, but it's just too heavy for us both.

The rocks continue to fall all around us.

"Just get out of here, Kouichi! Go get that bastard!" Yomiya yelled.

"No way! I'm not leaving you behind!"

Another rock large enough to crush my whole body just fell right next to me. The impact threw me off balance.

"Damn it, just go! If he knew we're out here, chances are Mei and Izumi's in danger! Go find them!"

And with that, he pushed me toward the exit.

"Just tell Mei that I...!"

His sentence got cut short by large boulders collapsing onto the passageway, separating me from him and trapping him inside the hall.

"YOMIYA!"

_Goddamnit. Godnamnit all..._

* * *

**Editor's note: Whoa...didn't expect ANOTHER sudden change in the theme. Now I felt like ripping off from Silent Hill...**

**Anyways, it's how I present this story. Everyone is not so different. Both Kouichi and the villains all tried to bring dead people back to life, whatever the cost. It's just that the means to achieve it are different.**

**Everything will be revealed in the next chapter, which will conclude every plot holes that I wanted to fix since finishing the anime.**

**AND I killed off Yomiya...great...now I feel like a sadist myself...**


	12. Another Extra One

Half an hour after the incident at the cave, I arrived at the town central square.

He was there, in a black coated, smoking a cigarette, standing in the rain. His back turned to me. I can only see half of his face, but he's definitely Mr. Seito.

That asshole...

"Took you long enough." He began.

I pointed my pistol at him. "Give me a reason why I shouldn't put a bullet in your head right now, you bastard."

The man, Seito, whoever he is, dropped the cigarette to the ground, before using his foot to crush its remains.

"Because you're here for answers," He replied. "I told you, haven't I? I'm gonna tell you everything, kid. So do me a favor and put that gun away before somebody gets killed..."

* * *

_"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"_

_Five minutes of digging proved futile. The cave-in is just too much to do anything without sufficient force. It'll take a freaking dynamite to clear them!_

_"Yomiya! You hear me!? Yomiya!"_

_No answer at all. I feared the worst._

_No, I can't give up now!_

_I struggled myself through the narrow space to get outside. The storm's getting worse._

_"Gotta call some help!"_

_I reached into my pocket for my phone. No such luck._

_"Aw, hell!"_

_My phone's not here. It must've struck inside the cave when Yomiya pushed me out! _

_Chances are it's already crushed by the cave-in._

_"GODDAMNIT!"_

_That's it. There's nothing I could do._

_Yomiya's..._

_'Just get out of here, Kouichi! Go get that bastard!'_

_'If he knew we're out here, chances are Mei and Izumi's in danger! Go find them!'_

_I stared at the pistol in my left hand._

_"I won't let you down, Yomiya..."_

_I started to run, as fast as could._

_The ever-stronger rain cannot stop me. There's nothing to stop me now._

_I need to put a stop to this madness right now..._

* * *

"You said you wanted to know why I did all this, right?" The black coated man said.

I nodded, but my hand still held firmly on the pistol.

"Tell me."

Thunders roared in the skies, lightning flashed in the distance, but the only thing that matters is the man standing in front of me right now.

"Because I wanted to bring _her_ back...The woman I loved..."

"The woman you loved?"

"My beloved Shizuka..."

"Shizuka? You mean Shizuka Yomiyama?"

The black-coated man turned to face me, finally revealing the whole face.

_The hell!?_

The right half of his face, old and full of wrinkles, is that of Mr. Seito, but the left half...is that of a _very _familiar man...

"You're..."

"Yes, Sakakibara-kun. It's just as you think." He grinned.

He's...that man...the ghostly man in that photo...

_Akira Matsumoto._

"But...you're supposed to be...!"

"Dead? Yeah, I'm already dead. Didn't you see me in the photo Mr. Chibiki showed you?"

Seito...Akira...moved his hand across his messed-up face.

"Isn't it amazing how simple it is to become someone new nowadays? You just need some money, and someone with skills and, voila!"

Suddenly, it all clicked.

The boy in the photo...the reporter mentioned Mr. Seito died a cardiac arrest...memory alteration...

"You...you're the one who killed Mr. Seito, aren't you!? He didn't die from cardiac arrest."

"Now, now, don't just start blaming me for all the bad things that happened, kid. I'm not a psychopath, I just wanted justice be done for all this town did to me and my loved ones."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, Sakakibara-kun. You're smart, you should figure that out easily! After everything you and your friends learned. Oh, and for your information, Seito _did_ die from cardiac arrest. I told you, I'm not a psychopath..."

I thought back to everything I learned during these past few days.

_Akira Matsumoto...going out with Shizuka...committed suicide..._

_The cult...resurrection...angry townspeople...Shizuka's furious classmates..._

_"You'll never find something like this in our town's history. The worst crime ever committed in Japan..."_

_"It's not something young people like you could accept..." _

_"Shizuka Yomiyama returned to life in some form of deceased people?"_

"_In order for the dead to come back to life, the living must fill in their places..."_

Everything, every piece of information, every puzzles, it's all started to click in.

"You...you wanted to take revenge on the town because of what happened to Shizuka Yomiyama..."

"Yes, and the calamity proved to be a very desirable distraction. Heh, her father was a genius. Replace the dead with the living? Hah! Just like some of the horror novels, eh?"

He started laughing like crazy.

"How did he manage to resurrect the dead?" I asked.

"Who knows? I don't even know how I got here! And that Misaki boy, he looked just like me. Coincidence? Maybe. Some questions just don't have answers, Sakakibara-kun."

He lit up another cigarette.

"It doesn't matter anyway. The point is, you know the side effects of defying nature. Nobody can cheat death. With the dead people, the 'Extra' ones, as you called them, roaming the world, you know what happened next."

"The calamity..." I said. "As long as the dead don't return to death, it will continue on, but..."

_The calamity happened every year. It stopped temporary after the Extra one has returned to death._

_But...it still happened every year._

_The ghostly boy in the photo...Akira Matsumoto..._

"So it was you!" I yelled out angrily. "You're already dead! But you're still here! That's why the calamity never stopped! You're the one behind the deaths all these years!"

"As if I care!" He shouted furiously. "Those fuckers deserved it anyways! Especially my so-called friends in Class 3-3! Those vile animals! You don't saw what they did to her...what they did to Shizuka! What they did to _me!_"

He then threw the cigarette in his hand out in frustration.

"The fucking cult, yeah, they're the reasons Shizuka was killed! Seito, yeah, he did _nothing_ and covered up everything! And the townspeople played along like his puppets, his dogs! You call this justice!? A young, beautiful, innocent girl got tortured and murdered for something she didn't do and being forgotten by everyone else!?"

"You're just doing the same thing!" I argued. "All these deaths, all these people, they did _nothing_! You killed them for something they didn't do, too!"

"So what!? I could bring them back! The barriers between life and death is broken now. I could bring back anyone, just that I couldn't choose them. But with luck, I could bring back my beloved Shizuka!"

"All these Extra ones, Ms. Mikami...my aunt... They're all your doing!?"

"It _did_ worked, didn't it!? Dead people could come back to life! I just needed to do it some more time to bring back who I wanted most..."

"So you lied to me about them being Shizuka's reincarnations. You lied to everyone!"

"Doesn't really make that much of a difference, does it? Everyone knew what they needed to know, not what they _wanted_ to know. My disguise as Mr. Seito helped in some way, too. I don't want too much attention, so students rarely see me leaving the office. As the so-called principal, every person in the school are at my disposal. They could get whatever truths I wanted them to know. Those who knew too much will be...taken care of."

"You're insane!" I shouted.

"No, I'm a genius." He grinned. "Every time I didn't get my Shizuka back, the townspeople will suffer. That's what they deserved for what they did twenty-six years ago!"

That's it. He's a maniac.

I aimed my gun toward Akira again, prepared to put some leads into that bastard's head.

But I was too slow.

Akira's faster than me. He pulled out his pistol and aim straight at me, putting us both in a standoff.

"You don't want to do that, Kouichi."

Goddamnit!

"It doesn't have to be this way, Kouichi. You know? Me and your mother were best friends. Your mother, me, and Shizuka. The three best friends forever and ever... That's why I let you live for this long..."

So, that time at the cafe, he deliberately let us, no, let _me_ go?

"Let's try something new, shall we?"

He lowered his gun, then walked casually to the nearby tree. I'm still aiming my gun at him, but in this heavy rain, it's gonna be hard to hit anything .

I stared at the tree. There's a couple of people sitting there...

_Izumi and Mei._

"No!"

They were both tied up, their mouths gagged, struggling desperately to get free.

"Heh, I'm a principal, after all. I had to know where my students are, right? You're even kind enough to send one of Mei's lovely friends to be with her at her house...two birds with one stone!"

"Now, now..." He moved his pistol toward Mei's head, his index finger held firmly on the trigger. "We don't want any more of your friends to die, aren't we?"

"Wait! Damn it, stop! Don't do this!" I shouted.

"Put that gun away first, kid."

I stared at Izumi, she's shaking his head, like she's telling me _Don't do it! Just shoot that bastard!_

Akira seemed to notice this, as he immediately moved his gun from Mei to her.

"Ooh, she's the annoying one..." He said. "Would hate to spoil that pretty face of hers, though..."

"Goddamnit, please! Stop pointing gun at my friends!"

"So put the gun down, kid!"

I did as he asked.

I can't let them in danger.

"Kick it toward me."

"Tell me what you're going to do first!" I demanded. I'm not giving up that easily.

"You're so stubborn just like your mother, Kouichi. Alright, here's what we gonna do. You'll help me in bringing back Shizuka, then I'll give you anything you wanted. You already put Ms. Mikami back to death, right? So there's no risk from the calamity to your friends anymore."

"And what if I refuse to play along?"

"Well, then you can say goodbye to your friends."

I thought about what he said: I already sent Ms. Mikami back to death, stopping the calamity for this year. My friends are now safe...

"I know Ms. Mikami is your aunt, Kouichi, and my best friend's sister. I could even bring her back again if that's what you wanted! Your mother, your aunt, your recently deceased friends. Think of the possibilities! If we could control life and death, then death isn't something to be feared anymore!"

"But...the next year's students will be..."

"Who gives a shit about them!? They don't mean anything to us! As long as we get what we wanted, nothing else matters."

"I..."

"Work with me, Kouichi. You're like my nephew. Ritsuko will be proud of you if she knew what we both achieved together!"

Damn it! My thoughts are so conflicted right now.

_What's wrong, Kouichi? Can't pull the trigger?_

_I can't risk my friends' safety!_

_So you're just gonna work with him? Becoming the very thing you despise?_

_Never._

_So what are you waiting for!?_

_He'll kill my friends if I try anything! __He's holding all the cards right now!_

_"So you're okay with having the calamity happened every year and more people die? As long as they're not your friends or closed ones? I thought you're better than this, Kouichi Sakakibara..."_

_That voice..._

_"You have to watch your friends die, again and again. Sacrificing your own happiness to put an end to this madness, but it'll be all worth it."_

_God forgive me..._

"...No."

"Pardon me?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not like you..."

I grabbed my pistol, knowing fully what's going to happen.

"My best friend once told me, that sometimes, you just can't save everyone..."

I might've just condemning Izumi and Mei to their fates...

"What you're doing right now is wrong, Akira. Dead people is dead, you cannot change that. It's all in the past."

My gun is now aiming straight at him.

"I need to stop you, Akira. The calamity must end, here and now, no matter the cost."

Akira's smile slowly faded.

"So be it."

_This is it._

_If I'm fast enough, I could shoot him before he..._

Suddenly, he did something I never saw coming.

Instead of using the pistol, he lifted his _other_ hand up, holding some kind of a remote.

A detonator? For what?

_Oh...fuck._

"Wait, don't, DON'T!"

It's too late.

Akira pushed the button, and loud sounds came from the distance. Sounds of explosions, echoed along with the thunders in the clouds.

"Yomiyama North Middle School has just been blown up, along with every sons of bitches still inside it. It's a school day, after all..."

* * *

**Editor's note: The true villain's finally revealed. The one behind everything...**

**Honesty, I've been wondering about that 'ghost' in the photo for months now. I mean, if dead people are returned to death, they should've disappeared from the pictures taken 'after' their deaths, right? Then why was he still in the picture? My theory is, he's still out there, cheating death, that's why there is calamity every year.**

**The anime itself left some questions, and I filled them with the answers I made up in this fanfic. It may seem out of place, but, well, everybody's not perfect...**

**Akira Matsumoto's personality is, as I intended, to be similar to Kouichi, but got taken to the extreme. He's desperate to save someone he loves and is willing to do anything, right or wrong, to achieve what he wants. In other words, he and Kouichi is not so different from each other. It's just the methods that divided them.**

**AND another cliffhanger for this chapter, this time I decided to blow the whole school up, because I don't know what to do with other characters anymore. LOL (I'm so evil...) but this is NOT the end. There's still three or four chapters left..**

**Next chapter tomorrow!**


	13. Another Ending

Everything happened too fast.

Black smokes loomed in the distance, mixing with the dark clouds above it.

The sheer shock of realization overtook me.

_He...he just blew up the school, with my friends in it!_

Before I knew it, I felt a sharp pain in my left knee.

"AAAHH!"

_I've been shot!_

My left leg gave out, and I trembled onto the wet floor.

"That's for yesterday, Kouichi." Akira said. "You shot me in my knee. Heh, even if I'm already dead, that still hurt like hell, you know? It's about time I return the favor."

My pistol fell out of my hand. I tried to reach it, but Akira responded by firing another shot.

Another painful feeling struck me in my right arm.

Akira walked toward me and kick the pistol away.

"If I were you, I wouldn't do that." Akira continued, his gun aimed straight at me. "The next shot, I'll aim higher, so don't do anything stupid."

"You...you asshole, how could you..." I said weakly.

"I did tell you to say goodbye to your friends, right? Their deaths are all your fault."

I tried to crawl away, but my body just doesn't allow to...

"I always wanted to burn that place to the ground, you know? You just gave me a perfect chance to do it. A shame about Mr. Chibiki, though. He was my favorite teacher..."

"Have you no remorse!? All these deaths have no meaning to you!? What rights do you have to play with life and death?!"

"And what rights do you have to tell me not to!? No one ever said anything like this to those bastards who killed Shizuka! Or the cult who tried to play god! What rights do _they _have!? What rights do _you_ have!?" Akira yelled out furiously.

He then point his pistol toward Izumi and Mei, who both has given up on trying to get free.

"Now choose, Kouichi Sakakibara! Only one of your friends can walk away from this, while you'll be hopeless to save another, as I was once hopeless to save Shizuka!"

"You're insane, you're batshit insane!"

Akira fired another shot in the ground as a warning. The shot missed Izumi just by a few centimeters.

"I'll only count to ten, Kouichi! If you don't choose, I'll kill them both, and then you'll know how I feel."

"You...you have no idea how I feel..." I countered.

"One." Akira began.

"You don't know what I had to go through!"

"Two."

"You're just a maniac! All of this will accomplish nothing!"

"Three!" Akira's voice started to tense up.

"Always making excuses, always blaming others, is that what an adult like you should be thinking!?"

"Four!"

"...You're not doing for her...you're just doing this to stay alive."

"Five!"

"You're already dead, but you don't want to die, so you tricked us to be your pawns, to _die_ so you don't have to!"

"Six!"

"What you're doing isn't justice, it's just pure madness."

"Seven!"

"You're just a monster, Akira Matsumoto. A monster that thirsts for blood to satisfy your own evil needs."

"DON'T! **(****BANG!)** YOU! **(****BANG!)** DARE! **(****BANG!)** CALL! **(****BANG!)** ME! **(****BANG!)** A MONSTER! **(BANG!)**"

With each word he said, he fired a bullet to threaten me.

But it doesn't matter anymore.

"EIGHT!"

I...I failed to protect them. I failed to protect my friends.

I can't even protect Yomiya. I can't even protect Mei and Izumi...

"NINE!"

Akira moved his gun toward Izumi and Mei, both closed their eyes shut, surrendered. His finger held steadily on the trigger.

_I'm sorry..._

"Time's up, kid."

**BANG!**

_It's over._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_Is it?_

I lifted my face up. Izumi and Mei's still there, unharmed.

Akira's been tackled away by someone.

"Wha?"

I tried to stand up, though the pain in my left leg hindered me from doing so.

Nearby, Akira and the mysterious person began to fight each other.

"You! You should've been dead! H-how could..!?" Akira shouted, his voice full of disbelief.

"Heh, I could ask the same to you, you asshole!" A very familiar deadpan voice replied.

_Yomiya, is that you?!_

"Oi! Kouichi! Take this!" He kicked my pistol back to me, but then took a huge uppercut by Akira, who then hurriedly grab his gun to reload it.

That was all the time I needed.

I grabbed my pistol, which has only three shots left, and aim it at Akira, who's still reloading.

It's a clear shot.

_Die, you son of a bitch._

**BANG!**

Akira stood frozen in place, his eyes widen, before falling to the ground.

Yomiya walked toward me before helping me up.

"H-how did you survive?"

"I'll tell you later. Come on, let's go help Izumi and Mei."

I limped toward the tree where Izumi and Mei at, with Yomiya helping me, before untying the ropes.

As soon as Izumi got freed, she hugged me.

"Oh god, Kouichi! Don't you ever do something like that again!"

"H-hey! Don't hug me to tight...my wound's still hurt..."

"Ugh..."

I heard a voice coming from behind us.

It was Akira...he's still alive.

I limped toward him. He's lying still, coughing up blood.

"W-why did it end like this...I...I just wanted to see her again..."

You'll do soon enough.

"I...I don't want to die...I..I'm scared..."

I slowly aim my pistol at his head.

He didn't deserve it. After everything he did, I should've just let him bleed to death.

But I'm not made that way.

"Rest in peace, Akira Matsumoto..."

And then I pulled the trigger.

* * *

Not long after, Akira's body completely disappeared, as well as the rain clouds in the sky. The storm's passing.

We all sat below the tree, trying to cope from what happened. Sirens were heard in the distance. Police cruisers, fire trucks and ambulances all headed straight toward Yomiyama North Middle School.

I think about my classmates. Maybe everyone made it out alive. Maybe somehow, they've been warned. Maybe Mr. Chibiki grew a conscious and bring them out to safety. He always helped us.

But I knew that it's highly unlikely.

"It's over, huh?" Izumi spoke.

"Yeah, it's over." I told her.

"No." Yomiya interrupted. "It's not over yet, Kouichi."

"Huh?"

He suddenly stood up.

"There is another Extra one..."

"What? But isn't Akira the last Extra one? There's someone else?" Izumi asked.

Yomiya turned to look at us, his face looked grim.

"You're looking at him, Izumi. I'm another Extra one."

_What the hell?_

I looked at Mei. She was staring at him with a blank expression. She stayed quiet for a while now, and only stared at Yomiya.

"I...I saw the color of death on him..." She stammered.

"B-but that can't be! That can't be true!"

Yomiya sighed. "Listen, Kouichi! I'm already dead. I died in that cave..."

"No, I don't believe it..."

"IT'S TRUE, KOUICHI!" Mei screamed, then pushed me to the ground and started punching me. "He's already dead! You failed to protect him! You broke your promise! I HATE YOU!"

"I..."

"Stop, Mei!" Yomiya pulled Mei back, before pulling her into an embrace.

"It's not his fault. It's not anyone's fault. I died because of my own overconfidence." He said somberly.

Mei began crying heavily into Yomiya's chest.

"H-how did you come back?" Izumi asked.

"I don't know. The last thing I remember was that everything crumbled onto me. I was wishing that I could live. There's still things that's bothering me. Akira Matsumoto, the calamity. I wanted to see it gone, with my own eyes..."

He let go of Mei, before caressing her face, wiping away her tears.

"Most of all, I wanted to see Mei again. I wanted her to be safe. If anything happens to her, I couldn't bring myself to die in peace. And then, I found myself outside of the cave."

Yomiya turned his back toward us, his empty, sorrowful eyes looking into the distance.

"Maybe that's what happened to Akira, too, and all the Extra ones. Maybe strong feelings of trying to stay alive will recreate you. Akira wanted to see Shizuka again, and held a strong grudge against the town, that's why he came back. I came back because I wanted to protect Mei, and that's all it take for me to be here. It's just a theory, anyways."

Yomiya then turned to face me once again.

"Now, Kouichi, it's time to do what you must."

He walked toward me, grab the pistol in my hand, then bring it to his head.

"NO!" Mei screamed.

"It's the only way, Mei. With my new existence as the Extra one, the calamity will continue on."

"There has to be another way!" I said. "I'm not watching you die again!"

"Just do it, Kouichi! Otherwise you and your friends will end up dead!"

"I..."

I...can't bring myself to pull the trigger.

Damn it, it's Reiko Mikami all over again!

How could you force yourself to shoot your own friends or family?

This is just wrong! If I had to kill my friend to stay alive, I'll...

"Kouichi..." Yomiya said quietly. "This is what I wanted. Please, let me rest. I'm dead, Kouichi. The dead must stay dead. It has to be this way..."

"It's not my place to judge that."

I lowered my pistol down, before handing it to Mei.

"The decision should be made by her, not me."

Mei reluctantly grabbed the gun, holding it with both hands, before pointing it at Yomiya.

There's only one bullet left, but that's more than enough.

"I'm sorry it had to end like this, Mei. I.."

Tears flowed down from Yomiya's eyes, so does Mei.

"I-you'll always be the woman I loved, Mei Misaki...I...I love you!"

Mei was just too emotional to give any response. She just nodded while crying heavily. Her hands trembling.

"You've been a good friend, Yomiyama Misaki..." I spoke. There's something I wanted to tell him.

"At first I doubted you. I blamed you for being behind the whole calamity, but after you tried so hard to find the truth...I..."

Damn it, this is just too much for me.

"Just, it's been a great ride with you. Rest in peace, okay? You deserved it."

Yomiya managed to form a light smile. "Will do, Kouichi-kun."

"Misaki-san..." Izumi suddenly spoke. "We...we rarely got chances to talk eye to eye, but...I'm glad you're my friend. Thank you for everything."

That remark surprisingly made Yomiya laughed.

"Heh, I always hated you, Izumi, after that business with Mei-chan, but...thanks."

Izumi just gave a bitter smile.

Silence.

Mei fell into Yomiya once again, embracing him tightly with the little arms of hers.

"I...I'm going to miss you so much, Yomiya-kun..."

Yomiya slowly patted Mei's back.

"Me too, Mei. Take care of yourself, okay? I'll always be there for you."

The pistol is now at the side of Yomiya's head.

"I love you, Yomiya..."

"I know..."

And the last bullet was finally fired. The last bullet from the Lifesaver. The bullet that ended the calamity once and for all...

* * *

It was a mess all after that.

Polices came and questioned us about the bomb at Yomi North. It appeared that nobody survived the blast.

I hate to admit it. I wanted to say that all of this is just a nightmare, but it isn't. My friends are all gone, again.

Families of the victims quickly gathered at the school, weepings everywhere. Remember how I described Kazami's family mourning him after he died? This is a lot, _lot_ more worse...

But we did it. We finally did the impossible. We stopped the calamity.

After some searching, I found the old Class 3-3 of 1972 photo inside the debris, and it was just as I expected. The ghostly black-haired boy: Akira Matsumoto, is gone from the picture completely.

The only thing to prove that we succeeded.

"Well, it's over, huh?" Izumi asked me.

"Yeah. It's over. It's finally over."

"I just...I just can't believe that he just blew up the whole school. My friends, Yukari, Yumi, Takako...all gone...I didn't prepare for this..."

Her voice trembled, like she's about to cry.

"Hey, hey. It's okay." I hugged her close, trying to comfort her. "You still have me and Mei, right?"

"Heh, right..."

Mei's sitting silently in the courtyard, covered in thoughts. She's devastated by Yomiyama's death. Me and Izumi has to go to great lengths before she finally talk to us.

You know, that stuff you did when somebody's depressed. Cheering up and that...

Sometimes, words are all you needed to bring someone back from despair.

This is one hell of a day...

* * *

.

.

.

_"Congratulations for your success, Sakakibara-kun..."_

_Oh no, not you again!_

_"Thanks to you, we finally found the source of the calamity. Now all we need to do is sending your memories to the other timelines. Akira Matsumoto is the true culprit, and must be sent back to death."_

_Yeah, but at what cost? All but two of my friends are dead._

_"It's a costly sacrifice, Kouichi, but you did it. You did what none of us, even you in the other timelines, could. You stopped the calamity, once, and for all."_

_I'm glad you're happy about it, because I'm not!_

_"That's why I'm here, Kouichi. For all your hard work, you deserved some reward for you..."_

_Wait, what are you doing to me?_

_Hello?_

_Hello!?_

_Hey! Where are you!?_

_._

_._

_._

* * *

"...Kouichi! Kouichi! What the hell's going on with you!? You've been standing silent for a while."

What?

Who's there?

I slowly opened my eyes.

_Where the hell am I?_

I glanced around. I'm in some sort of an amusement park.

_What the hell am I doing here?_

"Hey, Kouichi! Don't ignore me like this! Wait...are you daydreaming about your new girlfriend?"

That voice sounded familiar.

I turned to look at the source of the voice, before dropping my jaws in shock.

_WHAT THE FLYING FUCK!?_

Naoya Teshigawara is standing in front of me, licking his ice cream cone happily.

"Come on, let's get moving, shall we? The girls will be angry if we're late, right?"

And then he dragged me, still confused from what I just saw, through the park.

_What the hell's going on!?_

* * *

**Editor's note: Yep, this is it, ANOTHER Ending that I created, but it's not the final chapter, mind you.**

**For this chapter, I...don't know what to say. Just...well.**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	14. Another Life

"What's wrong with you, Kouichi? You've been acting weird for a while now!" Naoya, the one and the only Naoya Teshigawara, asked me.

Honestly, I don't know what the heck is going on myself.

This past half hour at this amusement park, Naoya brought me to find Izumi, and another girl with I've never seen before in my life!

* * *

_"What the hell's wrong with you, man!? She just bumped into you this evening at the stairs!"_

_"I swear, I've never seen her before!"_

_Naoya sighed, before pulling the puffy-haired girl close to him._

_"Right, right. I'll pretend you're just joking to me. Almost got me this time! Okay, meet Afira __Briade__, she's a transfer student from Indonesia, and one of the most annoying person I've ever met."_

_"EHH! What did you say!?" The girl exclaimed, before started punching Naoya in the shoulder._

_"Ow! Hey! I'm just joking!"_

_"Aww, look at those two lovebirds!" Izumi, who's standing next to me, teased._

_"Look who's talking! Just look at yourself and Kouichi! I swear, you two need to get a room or something!" Naoya jokingly said._

_"That's it, you're *so* gonna get it, you bastard!" _

_And then Izumi starting chasing Naoya around, all the while the girl named Afira started laughing happily._

_In the distance, I saw Kazami, Kazami! He's waving at me while his other hand holding Yukari's...who's giving me a shy smile._

* * *

Long story short, this past half hour, I've meet everyone who's supposed to be dead, and I mean _everyone_.

Yesterday, I just saw all of them died in front of me, and today, they're all enjoying themselves.

I'm starting to question that whether I'm already dead or not.

Damn it, I don't even know what's happening anymore.

Screw it, it's good to see my friends again.

"Come on, Kouichi! It's time to go to the Ferris wheel!" Izumi said happily, before dragging me toward the giant rotating wheel in front of me.

"Wha? Hey!? What about Naoya?!"

"Just give him some privacy with Afira-chan! Don't worry about them." Izumi replied. "Now, it's just _you_ and _me_, Ko-i-chi!"

* * *

So there I was, on the Ferris wheel, alone with Izumi, while it slowly ascends.

"U-um, why are we here?" I asked.

Izumi pouted. "You idiot! This is what you say during our first date?!"

I blinked.

_Our date?_

Izumi just turned her head away from me in frustration, looking outside.

"Oh, look. There's Mei-chan down there!" She pointed at one of the stalls below us.

I turned to look, and saw none other than Mei Misaki standing at the shooting gallery alongside another male student.

_Yomiyama Misaki._

"What's she doing with Yomiya?" I asked Izumi.

"Yomiya? Yomiya who?"

"The boy who's standing next to her! Yomiyama Misaki!"

Izumi seemed confused by what I've said.

"There's no Yomiyama Misaki, Kouichi. That guy's Yukito Ayatsuji. He's been dating Mei-chan for almost two months now."

Yukito Ayatsuji? Who the heck is that guy!?

That's definitely Yomiyama Misaki down there!

Izumi stared at me.

"Is there anything wrong, Kouichi? You're not like yourself for a while now..."

She asked, her voice sounded concerned.

"Ah, I..."

Damn it, how should I explain this to her?

Something's wrong, _real _wrong.

"Izumi, do you know...about the calamity?"

This time, Izumi seemed bewildered by my question.

"What are you talking about? What calamity? Oh, you just took that out of one of your horror novels, right?"

Okay, this is _not _normal at all.

What the hell did she mean by that!?

And why is...damn it, everything's not the same as it was!

"No! I mean, the calamity! The countermeasures, the Extra one, do any of these make sense to you at all!? Is it start yet!? Where's Akira, I mean, where's Mr. Seito, the principal!? Why is everyone so calm about this!" I asked frantically. I got up from my seat before shaking her body.

"Just calm down, Kouichi! You're scaring me!"

Izumi turned her face away from me, she seemed scared.

I finally let her go. Damn it, what's wrong with me!?

"I'm...I'm sorry..."

Izumi gave me a worried look.

"Are you sick, Kouichi? You've been acting really, _really_ strange. Maybe you needed some rest?"

Suddenly, the ferris wheel stopped, trapping us on the top of the wheel.

"What the hell's happening down there?"

The mechanic arrived soon after, and announced that ferris wheel has a minor malfunction and it's gonna take a while to fix it. In the meantime, we're struck here.

"Just great. Now I'm going home late again..." Izumi said.

"Listen Izumi, I didn't mean to scare you like that." I finally said.

"It's all right. I don't mind that. I'm getting used to you doing funny things!" She smiled.

"But honestly, _that_ was really scary, Kouichi. I thought you're gonna attack me or something! Seriously, something's wrong with you, I'm sure."

I didn't say anything.

"Come on, Kouichi, you're my boyfriend! If something's bothering you, you need to tell me! Maybe I can help you, but _don't _keep it to yourself like this! It's bad for both of us, you know?" She said.

_Huh? Boyfriend?_

"...Wha...what did you just say?"

"I'm telling you to just tell me what's bothering you so I can help!"

"No, before that."

"Huh? Oh, this is some kind of joke, isn't it? You actually forgot that you're _my_ boyfriend!?" Izumi crossed her arms. Her voice sounded upset.

_Aw shit._

"Wa-wait! I'm sorry!"

"Then just tell me what's bothering you so we could get done with it!"

"You...you sure you really wanted to know about it?"

Izumi nodded in response.

I took a deep breath, "Hah, okay, it started because of somebody's death twenty-six years ago..."

* * *

Half an hour later, I finished my story.

Just like the last time I explained the truth to her, she doesn't seem really surprised or shocked from knowing the truth at all.

"If all of that happened for real, you sure've been through quite an adventure." Izumi said.

"You seem so awfully calm about this, Izumi."

Well, not exactly calm, to say. I can still see the fear inside her eyes.

Maybe I shouldn't be telling her all of this.

Finally, Izumi spoke.

"There's no such things in this town, Kouichi. If what that voice in your dream told you is true, you've been brought to the timeline where there is no calamity. Nothing ever happened twenty-six years ago, Kouichi. Everyone is living here in peace. No strange cults, no homicidal maniacs, no ghosts walking the Earth, all of us is here..."

She put her hand on my shoulder.

"Everything is fine now, Kouichi. The only thing you have to worry about right now is the midterm exam tomorrow."

"It was just...so many things happened all at once. One moment, I was mourning my friends' deaths and how I was powerless to stop it, later I found myself back into the past that's not even the same as mine. It's just...shocking." I explained.

"No kidding."

We stayed quiet, not knowing what to say.

Seconds later, the ferris wheel started moving again.

"About time this thing started moving! It's getting dark already, I'm sleepy." Izumi yawned.

* * *

By the time we finally got off the ferris wheel, the sun already went down.

Half an hour later, my friends went their separate ways, but I decided to accompany Izumi back to her home.

"Hey, Izumi?"

"Yeah?"

"Just, forget that I said anything, okay? I don't want you to feel depressed about it..."

Izumi just smiled.

"Heh, I'll pretended it's one of your ideas for horror novels. Yukito would love that."

"Just promise me one thing. Just, be careful...okay?" I said worriedly.

"You still have a long life ahead of you. Don't let something like an accident because of a simple mistake to take all of that away. It's...it's not worth it. Nothing's worth more than living to see another day."

Izumi is speechless. She didn't know how to respond.

We arrived at her home at long last.

"So, see you tomorrow, Izumi." I said goodbye to her, even though some parts inside me didn't want to.

You don't know when's going to be the last time to see your friends, your family, your loved ones. It might be just an hour ago when you talked, played, laughed with him or her, and all of a sudden, they're just gone from our lives.

Izumi just waved at me.

As I turned to walk away, a pair of soft, tender arms wrapped around me, along with a warm feeling in my back.

_Izumi?_

"Kouichi...I..."

Her voice trembled. She sounded like she's going to burst out crying any moment.

"I...I know how you feel. I understand how you feel! What you've been through, it's...Hell, I don't have a clue how you could keep your mind stable after all that!"

"Some of my friends' been through a lot worse than me, Izumi. Some of them didn't make it, someone like you..."

"But you had to watch them all happened! You watched your friends died in front of you! You...Goddamnit, you watched _me_ died in front of you, and you couldn't do a single damn thing to stop them!"

She tightened her arms around me, like she doesn't want to let go of me.

"I..."

"Don't say anything, Kouichi. Don't do anything. You've done enough..."

I don't know what to do...

What do I feel at this moment?

Awkward? Nervous? Confused? Relaxed?

Maybe all of them.

She finally let go of me. I turned to face her one more time.

Izumi's face is covered in tears, but she's still smiling at the same time.

"Why are you crying?"

"Because I love you, dumbass!" was the only respond coming out from her, before she ran back into her home and slamming the door shut.

* * *

"I'm home..." I said weakly, exhausted from the evening.

But what awaits me in the living room managed to shock me once again.

Aunt Reiko is there, sitting next to my grandparents, along with...with..._with them..._

My mother, Ritsuko Sakakibara, is sitting on the couch, smiling happily at me, along with...

"MAN, I SURE LOVE IT HERE IN THIS TOWN! INDIA'S JUST TOO FREAKING HOT!"

_Holy crap!_

"Dad!? What are you doing here!?"

The one and the only Yousuke Sakakibara, my father, is sitting across my mother and aunt Reiko, drinking his glass of beer.

"Oh, come on! Is this what you say to your father after he's gone for a whole year?!"

He pushed the glass away, before lunged at me, and hug me tightly.

"Welcome home, son!"

I...this...what!?

"I, er, welcome back, dad," I said, still confused about the sudden turn of events.

But I admitted, I do missed him. After all, it's been years since I last saw him from my perspective.

When I last heard of my dad, he said he's about to return to Japan to be with me soon after the calamity ended. He never made it. His plane crashed because of an engine malfunction. His body was never recovered.

"Aw, isn't that sweet, Yousuke-kun?" My mom said.

"Where's my camera! I need to take some pictures!" Reiko yelled out loud. Almost out of character for her.

"Chill out, Reiko! You're going to give me a heart attack!" My grandpa said, earning a good laugh from everyone.

We had a dinner together that evening, before I excused myself and retreated to my room.

I took a shower, a _much-needed _shower. Man, this feels like heaven.

It was only this moment I have a time to think.

I tried to recall the last thing that mysterious voice told me.

_"That's why I'm here, Kouichi. For all your hard work, you deserved some reward for you..."_

Reward? Is this what she meant by that?

Brought me to the timeline with no calamity after I finding out the reason that caused it?

Heh. Looks like I have to thank her for this.

I _definitely _wanted this. It's what I always wanted.

* * *

_._

_._

_._

_"What you always wanted? Heh. No matter what timeline, you're still the same, naive Kouichi Sakakibara!"_

_And you're still the same annoying stalker from the future._

_"Hey! I'm not a stalker! And I'm the reason you could be here right now, you know?!"_

_Right! Right! I'm just joking! _

_"Hmph!"_

_Seriously, thank you. I mean, really. You don't know how much you lifted my grief for doing this to me._

_"You did your job, I did mine. It's nothing serious. You earned this. Kouichi."_

_So, how did what I do helped things, exactly?_

_"Simple. Now we know what...I mean who, is behind the calamity, I just sent your memories with that knowledge to every timeline. Luckily, you were smart enough to gain your friends' help and sent Akira Matsumoto back to death before he even realized what's going on, before doing the same to Rei...I mean Ms. Mikami, who's, as you already know, is the Extra one of that year. The calamity has been stopped, permanently this time, all thanks to you."_

_Still, there's no way to save Reiko?_

_"We've been through this, Kouichi. We can't save her. She's already gone by the time you got into Yomi North, and I don't want to risk sending your memories back any more further than that. Too many unknown variables. I hate to say it, but the past is the past. What's done is done."_

_Couldn't put it any better myself._

_"Yeah."_

_._

_._

_._

_Now what?_

_"Maybe I should go now. You've earned the rest, Kouichi. Don't waste it."_

_Wait, you haven't told me who you are yet!_

_(The voice cracked a laugh)_

_"You seriously don't know!? You're more naive than I thought, daddy!"_

_Daddy?_

_"My name is Izumi Sakakibara, you and Dr. Mei Misaki's beloved daugther!"_

_What the hell!? What are...!? Ahhh!_

_"Aw, dad, you're adorable."_

_Not the point! All these time, and I didn't figure out it was you!? What kind of a father I am!?_

_"Calm down, daddy! It's alright!"_

_NO! It's not alright at all! I should've...great...here it comes again._

_"What?"_

_I almost totally forgot about you! These past few days and all that mind screws, I totally forgot about you and Mei! Damn it, now I feel like I'm the most irresponsible parent ever..._

_"You apologized too much, dad. Now you made me feel like erasing your memories..."_

_Don't...you...ever...think... about that!_

_(Another giggles coming from her.)_

_._

_._

_._

_"I guess I still owe you an explanation for this also. Well, daddy, you've been a great father to me all these years, and it's true. Despite all the hardships you encountered in your school years, you did your best to raise me to become what I am today. But you're always so grim. You rarely smiles and cries a lot when you're alone. I don't want that, so I ask mom to tell me about your past."_

_You did mention Dr. Mei Misaki. What do you mean by that? Since when did she become a doctor?_

_"Mei Misaki, your wife, my mother...argh, it's weird to describe her like this... Anyways, she was studying her doctor's degree in Physics, probably because she told me she was interested in 'seeing things others couldn't'. She came up the concept of sending memories back into your alternate past selves, in order to experiment on how to create an alternate timeline, where we could change every made decisions without any risks posed to the present or future."_

_You're joking, right? Your mother never seem like someone who's interested in this kind of thing._

_"I don't know. She said she got the 'idea' from her dream, almost ten years ago, I think, telling me that she wanted to fix the mistakes she have made in the past. From then, she devoted herself into studying to become one of the most famous physicist in Japan."_

_Whoa, that's some achievement._

_"Yeah, I became her assistant when I finished high school."_

_Seriously? You must be pretty smart._

_"Not really..."_

_._

_._

_._

_So, will I ever see you again?_

_"Come on, dad. I'll come visiting! When you sleeps, of course!"_

_Heh._

_"Just take care of mom, okay? Oh wait, that Yukito boy will probably do a good job on that."_

_Yukito? You mean Yomiyama Misaki?_

_"Yeah, but his name is Yukito in this timeline. He's also quite fond of mystery novels, always writing short stories in his free time. You know, maybe you could give him some idea for his next work?"_

_Heh, will do._

_"Oh, and dad, I have no quarrel with you if you date with Izumi Akazawa, okay? You two made a good match, if I do say so myself!"_

_T-that's none of your business!_

_"Hahaha! I'm soooo love to tease you!"_

_._

_._

_._

_Seriously? I mean, wouldn't it create a time paradox or something? Maybe you wouldn't be born or erased from existence?_

_"Aaand you're talking like Einstein again. Remember, dad, this is a different timeline. What you do here doesn't affect anything in mine. If you're still having some moral issues, well, I have a message from you."_

_From me?_

_"Yeah. He said that you 'do whatever you want with Izumi, but the woman *I* love is the one and the only Mei Misaki, now get lost!'."_

_I think you deliberately added the last line..._

_"I'm not! That's exactly what he told me to tell you!"_

_Heh, I'm soooo love to tease you, my daugther._

_"Ahhhh!"_

_._

_._

_._

_._

_...I guess this is goodbye, then._

_"It's been a hell of an adventure, dad. Never thought I'm going to be the one to help you like this."_

_Yeah..._

_"Don't worry! If I have time, I'll come visiting."_

_Heh, thanks. Be sure to bring some good stories. You're a good storyteller, you know?_

_"Thanks, dad. See ya."_

_Goodbye, Izumi-chan..._

* * *

I just remembered this morning that Izumi told me about today's midterm test.

Aw hell, I haven't do any preparations!

Well, technically, I'm an adult now, so what little knowledge still left inside me could probably help a bit.

I had some breakfast, before my parents, along with Reiko, in her Ms. Mikami persona, bring me in my mom's personal car to school.

It's a new experience for me, a good one at that, also.

Never imagined that I could be with my whole family for once in my life...

The test itself isn't as painful as I thought. Even the mostly laid-back Naoya passed the test with no problems, albeit barely. I thought it might have something to do with the new transfer girl, Afira-chan, isn't it? Those two seemed close to each other. Naoya did mention that she helped him studying for his test and, as a repay, he goes out with her.

Who could've thought about that, huh?

Anyways, I have my own business with Izumi. She confronted me after the school ended.

"Oi, Kouichi! Could you help me with my student council works?" She said cheerfully.

Oh, I forgot to mention that Izumi is now working as a member of the Student Council, as opposed to the class's countermeasure officer.

"No...I'm tired. The test's killing me. I want to go home..." I jokingly said to her.

"Hey! That's unacceptable! I can't deal with all these works on my own!"

"That's no good, Sakakibara-kun..." Mei Misaki suddenly appeared out of nowhere, before speaking in her usual emotionless voice. "You shouldn't let the lady do all the work."

"I agreed with that, Kouichi! Some gentleman you are!" Yomiya, no, Yukito, agreed with her.

"Arrg, alright, alright!"

I finally gave up, and turned to face Izumi.

"As a thank you for yesterday, I'll help you do all the work today. Just tell me what to do!" I said.

"Really!? Thank you so much!"

And then she kissed me...

..._on the cheek._

"Aw! Isn't that cute!" Afira and Naoya joined in with us.

"Wha? Where did you guys come from!?"

"Kubodera just called me outside to discuss about my grades, nothing big, but damn! Look at you two!" Naoya said.

"You two are made for each other!" Aya appeared next to Naoya.

"Hey, nobody welcomes you here!" Naoya teased her, which earned a pout from Aya.

"Hey, Yukito, didn't you said you were looking for inspirations for your story?" I asked Yukito, who surprisingly wears a pair of reading glasses, though I admit it does look great on him.

"Yeah? You have anything I could use?"

"Plenty. I think you'll love this." I told him. "It's about..."

Before I finished, Izumi dragged me out of the room.

"Alright! Alright! Today's a long day! Kouichi and I needed some rest, so he's coming with me. See you guys tomorrow!"

What's with her!?

"Oi, oi! What's with all the hurry!? It's still a long time until dark!"

Izumi didn't say anything. She just dragged me along with her.

We ended up at the last place I could think to be there.

The rooftop...

It's surprisingly clean. No signs of rusty railings and dirty floor anywhere.

"Izumi? Why did you bring me here? Aren't we supposed to be doing student council works?"

"I'm just kidding, Kouichi. I said that because I wanted to spend some time with you..."

She said while smiling. One of the most beautiful smiles I've ever seen.

She slowly approaching me.

"Look, Izumi, about yesterday, I didn't mean to..."

"Just shut up." She grinned, before bringing her face closer...

...and then our lips met.

_This is the best day of my life._

* * *

**Editor's note: Well, there goes. The end of the story. My mission completed. I've saved my beloved Izumi at long last! HAHAHAHAHA! Laughs like a maniac.**

**Okay, the first thing you'll notice that the blatant cameo of my favorite fellow fanfiction writer, Afira Braide. I recently released another ANOTHER fanfic dedicated to her, and so you know, this chapter actually took place after **_**that**_** story.**

**Another cameo is for the writer of Another himself, Yukito Ayatsuji, a.k.a, Yomiyama Misaki (LOL I just made that up!). I wanted to say thank you to him personally for the great horror story he gave us, although I don't really satisfy with the ending... All rights to the contents of this fic belonged to him, minus the original OCs I made up. (I don't know if I write this right...I'm not too good at English...)**

**So, it ends! But there'll be two more chapters after this LOL. But for now, enjoy the happy ending Kouichi earned after years of physical and emotional torture. He deserved it, everyone deserved it, and I'm happy to say that I finally did what I longed to do after finishing the damn anime. IZUMI LIVES!**


	15. Another Epilogue

Ten years passed by so quickly.

I can't even believe I had two little kids with Izumi already.

It's just, all of this...it's almost too good to be true.

A new life, for me and everybody else. A happy, peaceful life.

Today's little Hisao and Hisako's birthdays. Heh, god's even kind enough to give me twins as my children. Izumi seemed very excited when she learned about it. Aside from the day we shared our first kiss, the day when she gave birth to the twins is definitely the best day in my life.

Aunt Reiko is still working at Yomi North, although she isn't the homeroom teacher of Class 3-3 anymore. Following the retirement of Mr. Chibiki, who became the principal of the school about eight years ago when he said he was tired of being the librarian, she replaced him. These past few years, she's been widely regarded as one of the best principals of this school by students and teachers alike.

My dad went back to India, again, leaving me with my mother alone in the house since my grandparents passed away eight years earlier.

Naoya also informed me that Ikuo Takabayashi has just passed away from heart attack two days ago. His grandparents, Kensaku and Keiko, grieved for him, but accepted that his days are numbered since many years ago (which is probably for the best, I still remembered how Keiko 'dealt' with the loss of her grandson all those years ago...) It's almost a miracle he managed to stay alive for this long even without the calamity.

I accepted this, because I know that at least he got a chance to live his life to the fullest before it ends. Nobody can escape death. After all, the last person who tried to do that ended up creating the calamity in the first place.

Someday I will lose my friends again. Someday I will lose my parents again. Someday I will lose Aunt Reiko again. Someday I will lose my beloved Izumi _again_...

Nothing can change that.

But for now, I'm content with this...this moment...this little period of peace that all of us deserved.

"Daddy! Nii-chan is bullying me again!" Hisako cried out loudly.

This is a surprise...normally she's quiet. Probably because she spent most of her time with Mei and Yomiya...I mean Yukito, both of whom aren't know exactly for their talkative personality...

"Stop it already, Hisao! You're making your sister cry!" Izumi scolded. She's in the kitchen working on the breakfast.

"Booooo! Hisako is a crybaby!" Hisao pouted. Heh. I shouldn't be letting that kid fooling around with Naoya too much. He's getting some of his bad habits.

I turned on the news on the TV while sipping some coffee.

_"Good morning! Today, Sakari Yoshino, a fifteen-year-old basketball_ _player of Yomiyama North Middle School received a scholarship for her excellent skill and admirable sportsmanship. Today, we interviewed Ms. Reiko Mikami, the principal of the school, along with her assistant, Ms. Ryoko Akiyama..."_

Reiko...Ms. Mikami then appeared on TV, along with another woman with short black hair. They both have bright smiles on their faces.

_"Thank you, sir! I'm happy to inform that Sakari-chan along with her teammates are in top shapes, and will be competing in the upcoming Junior Basketball Competition in Tokyo next week!" _Ms. Mikami said.

_"As her homeroom teacher, it is therefore my responsibility to accompany Sakari-chan and her team to Tokyo as their personal manager." Ryoko added._

And so on.

"Oh, Mei-chan just called me last night. She and Yukito-kun will be going on a trip to Okinawa tomorrow along with Fujioka-san." Izumi said.

"Fujioka? You mean Mei's sister?"

"Yes, dummy! She said it's been a while since they spent some time together." Izumi added.

"Aw, and I was planning to throw a party this weekend! Poor Hisako... She wanted to play with Aika-chan for a long time!"

Just so you know, Aika is Mei's lovely daughter. Kinda remind me of Izumi...the _other_ Izumi, my other 'daughter'.

Hisao and Hisako have a lot of friends in their age, most of them children of our old friends in Yomi North.

One big happy family to another.

* * *

After having our breakfast, me and Izumi drove our children to the local primary school. During our way back, I decided to fooling around a bit and went to the beach instead.

The very beach Reiko took us to when we decided to take a much-needed break from all the depressing stuffs...which didn't end well _at all._

Well, everything's changed after all that, right?

"Right, here we are!"

The scene of the infinite sea laid out in front of us. The horizon separating the water from the cloudless sky above us. The wind blowing through the beaches gave me a chilling yet calm feeling. It is certainly the most overwhelming sight.

"Hey, Kouichi? Why did you bring us here?" Izumi asked.

"I don't really know..." I admitted. "I just...wanted to visit all the places I've been with you in my past."

"Hmm?"

"It's just a stupid thought but...what if today was your last day? Wouldn't you want to do something that will give you one last precious memory to remember?"

"Don't say such depressing things, Kouichi..."

"I didn't mean to make you feel bad, I was just...I was trying to remember everything about you, about Mei, about our friends. The places we've been, the things we did together, the good memories we treasured. I want to savored all of them before it...before it all ends..."

Sometimes I don't even know what the hell am I saying.

It sounded so random, yet it was the only thing that keeps my mind stable and not freak out from all the things that happened to me.

My thoughts running wild in my head sometimes. There are times when I reminisce about those time I was with Mei Misaki, when I thought Yomiyama Misaki was still the bad guy, when everything went wrong and I can't do anything at all.

Then there are times when I reminisce about Izumi...the two Izumis in my life, one bonded to me by blood, helping out each other like what family does, another is bonded by friendship, helping out each other like what true friends do. The two have a lot of effects in the long life of mine. All the goods and bads that came out from it...I will never, ever forget that.

I lived two lives. I've lived the life of a man who has lost everything, but still managed to find the hope to live on, and I've lived the life of a man who has got a second chance, to make right what once went wrong.

I've loved Mei Misaki, and I loved Izumi Akazawa.

The love that bonded me to them is the strength that drives me to move on, to continue fighting for a second chance in my life, even though it might be meaningless, even though it might not be worth it, even though I knew it will all end someday.

Who cares if it ended? Everything that has a beginning has an end. The only thing that really matters is how we ended it.

Should I die a depressing old man who has nothing but regrets and nightmares from the past? Or should I pass on as an old man who is content with what he did in his life?

"I'll always be with you, Kouichi..." Izumi finally spoke. "...with Mei, with Yukito, with Naoya, with everyone else. We'll always be together until it all ends."

I held her closely in my arms.

"I love you, Izumi."

"I love you too, Kouichi..."

.

.

.

"So, shall we take a swim? It's not like we're coming all this way to the beach just to make sandcastles, eh?"

"Great idea! I'm soooo wanted to take a swim for a while."

"Hey, I gotta tell you. Back then, you looked _really _nice in your bikini, you know?"

"You pervert!"

And _that _is the story of how Hisao and Hisako get another sister like they wanted.

Azumi Sakakibara, welcome to the world, my daughter!

Damn it, I'm so awesome...

* * *

**Editor's note: Yes, you read that right, Kouichi and Izumi's been getting **_**pretty **_**busy these days! LOL **

**FYI Hisao and Hisako's names, if the meanings I got from the internet are to be believed, mean 'long-lived'. Fitting, eh? And the third child, Azumi, her name means 'safe residence', plus it rhymes with her mother's name!**

**Only one chapter left, and it'll be a very long one. I've planned it to be another take on the ending of this fic, as I'm not entirely satisfied with this. This is a more overly generic happy ending where everyone lives happy ever after. Well...it doesn't really suit the theme in Another at all...**

**So, the next chapter will be the alternate ALTERNATE ending of the story. It'll be somewhat bittersweet, but won't be too much dark either. Mark my words, Izumi x Kouichi still remains, because I loved them soooo much! LOL**

**Stay tuned for the finale, people! Read and review!**


	16. Another Chance

_Damn it, what is happening!?_

I stood still, my head leaned at the wall while water from the shower poured into my head.

I'm trying to figure out how the hell did it become like this...

_"That's why I'm here, Kouichi. For all your hard work, you deserved some reward for you..."_

_"There's no such things in this town, Kouichi. If what that voice in your dream told you is true, you've been brought to the timeline where there is no calamity..."_

So, that's what that mysterious voice meant by that.

I'm in a new timeline, a better timeline. There's no calamity, no freak accidents, no psycho killers, everyone is alive, including my family. Everything is so perfect.

But...am I really happy?

Something just doesn't feel right.

_What about the other timelines? _

I don't know if what I did really stopped the calamity for real. Maybe sending Akira Matsumoto back to death really is the answer, but is it the right one?

No, it's the right one. He disappeared from the photo after he got send back to death. No more Extra ones left. Everything's over.

But...

_It isn't over for me._

I haven't seen it ended by my own eyes.

I need to make sure everything's really over. I need to make sure that what I did really cause a difference.

_What are you thinking, Kouichi?_

I...

_Aren't you happy enough with this? Everything is perfect for you? You parents alive, your aunt alive, your friends alive, aren't you satisfied yet?_

But I didn't...

_Didn't you hear what Izumi told you? You've done enough._

I've...done enough?

Maybe I've done enough.

What's the point going back to that nightmare again?

This place feels like heaven. I wanted this. Why the hell shouldn't I!?

"Kouichi! Your dad said he's about to wet his pants! Hurry up with the shower!"

I heard Reiko's voice coming from outside.

"Right! I'm almost done!"

Screw it, I won't think about this anymore.

I'm here, and that's that.

It's over...

* * *

I was studying for the exam tomorrow when my dad came into my room.

"Oi, Kouichi. You're still up? It's getting late, my son." He said.

"I...I just can't bring myself to sleep, dad." I replied.

He walked toward me.

"Stressed about the exam tomorrow?"

"Nah, it's not that..." I said. "It's...something else."

"What 'bout it? Maybe I could help."

"It's nothing serious, dad. I've gone over it."

"No, you're not, Kouichi. If you were, you'll be sleeping by now."

Wha? What kind of logic is that!?

But...he's right, by the way.

"Hey, dad. Could I...ask you something? Something personal?"

He stared at me curiously.

"Of course, my son! Anything you want!"

"It's...somewhat a little harsh. You won't like this, dad."

"Tell me about it." He said firmly.

I hesitated a bit, before finally ask something that's been messing my mind this past few hours.

"Um, dad. What would you do if...one day...you found out everyone you loved is dead? I mean, _dead_, all gone from your life. And then suddenly, you woke up and find out you're in another world where everyone is alive, but you still have that...that odd feeling. You have that...that urge to save them no matter what, even if you're perfectly fine with everyone in the present?"

He didn't say anything.

"If you found out a way to save your loved ones in a world where they died, will you do it? Even if you're already happy with them in the present?"

I turned to look at him, he was admiring the family picture, with him, my mom, Reiko and my grandparents in it, on my desk.

"You know..." He began. "I once asked a similar question to my own father, know what he said?"

I shook my head.

"He told me a story."

"Wha?"

"It's a story about two men. Both were the best of friends. One day, they went swimming in the sea together. One of them went too far out from the coast and got swept away by the strong waves. He's crying for help time and time again, while the other man got back on the beach safety. He contemplates about going after his friend to save him, but he's not a really good swimmer. He might drown if he tried to go after him, and his friend will die anyways. On the other hand, if he ran to find some help right now, he could return with someone who could save his friend, but there's no guarantee that he'll be back in time, and even if he is successful, his friend would've blamed him for leaving him behind. If it were you, what choice would you choose?"

I stayed quiet. This isn't an easy dilemma at all.

If I were him, I would've go after him, but there's a risk that I might drown before I could save him, and he would've gone anyways.

If I ran to find help, I maybe too late to save him.

"Any sane person would've gone to find help..." My dad said. "But what if by some miracle, you go after him, knowing the risks that may cost both of you your lives, and actually pull it off. What if by some miracle, you _can _save him?"

"I don't understand, dad."

"The point of this story, is that there are certain time hard decisions must be made, and no choice guarantee any satisfied outcomes. You would have to go through it anyways, because doing nothing will do nothing good to you. If there's a more risky way but will result in a better outcome so do it! Even if we failed, we failed knowing that we're willing to bet everything we've loved to do what's right, what's good for you and your loved ones..."

He suddenly stood up, before pulling something out of his pocket.

"Let me tell you one story of my own, son. Before I got here, I sidetracked a bit to America, and found this one good movie showing in the cinema..."

He showed a ticket, a movie ticket. I inspected it.

_Saving Private Ryan_ is the name of the movie.

"What's it about, dad?"

"It's a story about a squad of soldiers that got send behind enemy lines to do an impossible mission; to find and bring back one soldier whose brothers are all killed in combat, leaving him the sole surviving son of his family. The higher ups ordered the squad to bring the man back home at any cost, but when they finally found him, he's with a handful of soldiers who was ordered to protect a little town with high strategic importance, and a numerically superior enemy is heading toward this town to take it. Losing it could mean losing the war, so he decided to stay with his men to protect the town at any cost. At this point, the squad that was sent to recover him have two choices: Just leave him and his men to their own fates and told their superiors that they cannot find him or that he's already dead, or help the man in protecting the town at the risk of being killed themselves and losing the town anyways."

"It sounded similar to the previous story you told me, dad."

"Yeah, and you know what they choose? They choose to stay and fight with him. Of all the soldiers in battle, only three survived, including the soldier the squad was sent to protect. They succeeded in doing the impossible, at the cost of their own lives."

"That's just tragic, dad."

"Right? What I'm trying to say, son, is that if there's anything you could do to save your friends, do it. Do what you feels right, even if it's not good for you."

He stood up, preparing to leave the room.

"And oh, about your question, if I were you, I would've done anything in my power to save my friends, Kouichi, even if they're still alive with you, because if it made me feel better, then I will do it."

And then he closed the door, leaving me with my own thoughts.

* * *

_"Lalala! How are we doing today, Kouichi?!"_

_Damn it, not you again._

_"You're in a bad mood today? I thought you'll be more than happy to find your friends and family all alive again!"_

_Yes, it did feel good! But..._

_But I didn't deserve it..._

_"What are you talking about? You already provided me with the means to stop the calamity, and I'm already doing that as we speak! Even in my own timeline, the one where 'you' came from, you went to find that Akira Matsumoto and sent him back to death for good, stopping the calamity at last! Everything's going smoothly, and you got everything you wanted, what more could you ask for!?"_

_I wanted to save my friends._

_"You already did, Kouichi."_

_I mean by myself, damn it! I wanted to see it by my own eyes that they are truly safe! That what I've done...what we all did...made a difference._

_"You don't have to do this, Kouichi. There's no reason for you to go back to that nightmare again."_

_But I have to! I wanted to save everyone, by myself. I wanted to...save her. Save Izumi..._

_"Damn it, please! Don't do this! I'm trying to help you!"_

_Stop! I don't wanna listen anymore! Just send me back! And I'll do everything right this time..._

_._

_._

_._

_"All right, I gave up. I'll send you back...to the time where you're still in the hospital before the school starts. 'You' in this timeline will not remember anything prior your arrival, he'll just be the Kouichi who's currently dating Izumi Akazawa in the school life of his, and is preparing for his test tomorrow."_

_...Thank you._

_"You do realize that even if you go back and do everything you was supposed to do, there's still someone you couldn't save? Your parents, your aunt, victims of the previous calamities, do you really wanted that?"_

_As long as I'm sure I could save my friends for good, I can accept anything._

_I've come too far to just stop now._

_"Just one little question before I send you back. Just what is it that you don't like about this timeline?"_

_I didn't say I don't like it. I'm just saying that...that I didn't earn it._

_I didn't save my friends myself. I watched them died twice without doing anything._

_I need to earn this happiness, by myself._

_It's something hard to explain, but I had to do this._

_._

_._

_._

_"Heh, you're still the same old naive man I've knew and loved for my whole life, daddy..."_

_Daddy?_

_What the hell?_

_Hey! What do you mean by that!?_

_Izumi!? Is that you!?_

_._

_._

_._

* * *

I woke up, sweating, on the hospital bed.

I looked at the clock.

_10:12 PM, 1998/04/23_

So, I'm back here again.

But, it's still two days earlier than last time.

That means...my friends, Izumi, Yukari and Kazami aren't here yet.

And Fujioka...Mei's sister...she's still alive.

I've still got a chance.

I looked around the room, it was still during the night. The room is dark, but I'm not afraid of dark anymore.

I quickly got up from the bed despite my condition, before grabbing my coat and get out of the room immediately.

It took some efforts to avoid the late night shift guards at the hospital, but I finally managed to get out of the hospital without being seen. I bought some tape cassettes from the nearby 24/7 convenience store, before rushing back home.

I figured out that, if I failed, then at least my friends should know what they have to do to save themselves, so I planned to record everything I've been through in the cassettes and sending them to Izumi tomorrow, while I go deal with Akira Matsumoto.

If I'm lucky, I send him back to death, and doing the same thing with the Extra one of this year...Reiko-san.

It's scary just thinking about it...but I don't really feel anything anymore.

I've killed many people closed to me so many times now.

But this isn't the time to think, that moment's long pass by me now, it's time to act.

There's still time until tomorrow.

* * *

The next day, I finished recording everything in the tapes and went to school in my normal clothes, because why not?

Nobody knows that I'm out of hospital yet, so I need to be quick.

My grandpa's old 'Lifesaver' rested firmly in my left hand, and the tapes along with the player in another.

I don't care what will happen to me after this. If I get arrested, the polices can't prove that I killed anybody because Akira is already dead, and if he's already dead, nobody would remember him.

Thirty minutes, I rushed into familiar school hall, and up the stairs.

First floor, second floor, third floor...

I stopped by at the third floor, before turning into the hallway, with only one destination in mind.

_Class 3-3_

I slid the door open strongly, and saw everybody inside the room.

Izumi was there, Naoya was there, Mei was there...even Yomiyama Misaki.

"What the...!?"

Makoto yelled. Everybody inside the room turned to look at me.

"Izumi, take this!" I threw the tapes to Izumi, who's still sitting at her desk staring at me, confused. "Just listen to them and do as they said! It'll help you stop the calamity!" I shouted as loud as possible.

And then I started running...

Several students from the other classes must've heard me, as they began walking out of their classrooms to see what's going on. I ran passed them, not caring anything.

"HEY! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" Masato-sensei walked out of his room. He stood in my way, preparing to catch me.

But at this point, nothing fazed me anymore.

I pointed the gun at him.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

Damn it, this _feels _so good! I always wanted to do this!

Masato quickly dived sideways while I ran passed him, the stairs to the fourth floor is in front of me.

_Nearly there!_

Damn it, I'm starting to get tired, my chest's getting hurt.

But I finally reached it, the principal's room is in front of me.

And I kicked the door open.

He was there, Mr. Seito, no, Akira Matsumoto...he's sitting in front of me, sipping his coffee.

"Hey? What's with all the-"

_Die, you son of a bitch._

**BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG**

All six bullets came out from my gun and straight into Akira Matsumoto's body.

That bastard never got a chance.

"Hah...hah..."

I've did it. I've killed that bastard, now the only one left is...

"Kouichi! What are you doing here!?" A familiar voice spoke.

I turned back at the door, and saw Ms. Mikami standing there, along with probably the entire Class 3-3 behind her, including Izumi.

"Ms. Mikami, I can explain about this..." I slowly said.

I was careless for only one second.

**BANG!**

"ARRHHHG!"

I felt a sharp pain in my chest.

I looked down, and saw my clothes strained with blood.

"NOOOOOO!" Ms. Mikami screamed out, along with several students behind her.

_What. The. Hell?!_

I turned back, and saw Akira lying on the floor, bloodied, but still alive.

His shaking left hand is holding a pistol.

_You bastard!_

Akira struggled for a bit to fire another shot, but he ran out of strength before that.

His body slowly disappeared, as I slowly fell to the floor.

Ms. Mikami caught me before I hit the ground, but the pain in my chest's getting worse.

_Damn it, I messed up again, didn't I?_

Izumi and Mei are the firsts to rush toward me, while other students watched in awe as the body of the principal they've never seen before mysteriously vanished in front of them.

_Ow, my chest. That bastard must've got me in the heart..._

My breathing's starting to get slower. I heard mumblings, somebody talking. My vision's blurring...

_So this is what death feels like..._

I slowly closed my eyes, with the last sight being Izumi, Mei and Ms. Mikami...Reiko.

"Good...bye..."

* * *

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

_"...idiot..."_

_._

_._

_._

_._

_What?_

_._

_._

_._

_"...you...idiot..."_

_._

_._

_._

_I don't..._

_"Daddy...so...idiot..."_

_._

_._

_._

_Izumi? Is that you?_

_._

_._

_._

_"...You did it...you did it, daddy...You really did it..."_

_._

_._

_._

_I..._

_"I love you, daddy...rest...everything's okay now..."_

_._

_._

_._

_I'm...sorry..._

_._

_._

_._

* * *

.

.

.

"...Patient's condition is stable now..."

"...I can't believe she just disappeared!..."

"...This is nothing short of miracle..."

"...Still needed some blood transfusion..."

.

.

.

* * *

"Kouichi, can you hear me?"

Um...what?

Where am I? Heaven?

I'm already dead?

I'm...lying on something.

I slowly opened my eyes.

_Hospital room, again?_

I looked to my left, and saw Izumi Akazawa sitting next to me.

"...Izu...mi?"

"You're...you're alive! Thank god!"

Izumi yelled up, and before I got any chance to react, she hugged me tightly.

"DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT! DON'T DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN, YOU IDIOT!"

She cried out, I can feel her tears running down my hospital clothes.

"I...I'm alive?"

"Yeah..." She sobbed. Her voice sounds so cute.

But...

"How could I be still alive? I got shot in the heart..."

Izumi pulled away from me. She took a deep breath, before finally spoke.

"It's Ms. Mikami, Kouichi..."

What?

"What happened to her?"

"I...after we all listened to the tapes you gave me, the tapes that you recorded all the explanations we needed to...to stop all of this. Ms. Mikami, I mean Reiko...she..."

"What did she do? She already knew she's the dead person, didn't she?"

"Yes, Kouichi. And she...she wanted to save you. She said that if she really is dead, and must be send back to death to stop the calamity, then the last thing she did should be saving you. And...and then...she...donated her heart to you..."

_THE HELL!?_

"She did what!?"

"She donated her heart to you! I heard the doctors said, after they removed the heart from her body, she just vanished in front of their eyes! It's unbelievable!"

Then...that means...

I tore my hospital shirt open, revealing my upper body. There's traces of a large vertical scar on my chest.

I put my hand on it. It hurt a little bit, but I can felt a rhythm coming out from it...

Realization started to kick into me.

"Her...her heart...is in me..."

Izumi nodded, she's still crying. She also put her left hand on my chest.

"Yes, Kouichi...she saved you...she saved us all..."

I...I don't know what to say.

I...can't believe this is happening to me.

We both stayed silent. Five minutes, maybe? Maybe it's even ten.

"So it's all true...what you've said in the tapes..." Izumi began. "With Ms. Mikami and that Akira guy went back to death, the calamity will stop permanently."

"Did you check the photos I sent with you along with the tapes?" I said. "I've attached a photo of her while she was sleeping last night, and another group photo of Class 3-3 in the year 1972 with Akira Matsumoto in it. They should be both gone from the photos by now."

"Yeah, they did." Izumi confirmed. "And it seems you were telling the truth, there's no deaths occurred in the town for three months now."

Three months?!

"I've been out for that long?"

Izumi nodded. "Yes, you lost too much blood and went into coma. Even after the heart transfer is complete, you're still brain-dead. It took some blood transfusion to help you regain consciousness, and even then, it took three freaking months until you recover!" She explained, before handed out her right arm to me.

"D-don't tell me..."

She nodded again.

Izumi...transferred her blood to help me...

Oh god...as if I don't have enough shock for one day.

"Damn it, Izumi...You don't have to do this!" I told her.

"I did what I did because I wanted to do this, Kouichi." She replied. "Besides, if what you said about other timelines in the tapes were true, then you don't really have to come here. You came back because you wanted to save us...and I thank you for that. This is the least I can do for you."

Heh, you got me, Izumi.

Another silence.

"...Thank you, Izumi. You've saved me..." I said.

"It's nothing, Kouichi. You saved us first."

I looked outside, at the sight of the town of Yomiyama. It's as beautiful as ever.

"Mei and Yomiya sent their regards, they wanted to thank you that Fujioka, Mei's sister, 's condition is getting better."

So I did save one more life, the life of my wife's sister.

"I still can't believe that Akira person. He tricked years and years of students into his pawns!? That asshole. Good riddance if you asked me."

"Couldn't agree more, Izumi."

"Anyways, thanks again for doing this, Kouichi. We really appreciated it. You've saved our lives."

"Stop thanking me already! You made me feel like dying." I jokingly said, which made Izumi let out a giggle.

"It's a shame you had to miss three months' worth of school, Kouichi. I'm sorry, but Kubodera-sensei said that you need to repeat the year."

Oops.

"But don't worry! I'll come visiting! Maybe I'll even help you do the homework!"

"Heh, I'd love that."

.

.

.

"So, how come I didn't get arrested yet? I mean, I brought a freaking _gun_ to the school! And deliberately murdered a man in front of you guys!"

"Hey, you said it yourself. Technically, he's already dead, so that didn't count, and when we learned the truth from your tapes, we decided to cover up all of it and didn't tell the polices. Officially, there was no principal in office at Yomi North for twenty five years now." She explained.

"That sounds hard to believe."

"You know, almost _everything_ in your tapes were hard to believe, too. But there's nothing else we could believe into, so I guess we have to go with your advices, right?"

"No kidding. But there's still something that's bothering me." I said.

"And that is?"

"You know, if Reiko's heart is within me, and I'm supposed to be dead, didn't that technically made me the Extra one? I should've died when Akira shot me, and the heart inside me came from a person who's already dead!"

Izumi chuckled. "Who knows? Nobody died these past three months, I've already told you. If the calamity is still exist, somebody should've died by now."

"You had a point."

"Besides, if somebody starts dying because of you, I could just kill you anytime." She jokingly said.

"Now _that_'s a bad idea."

And then we both laughed happily. I felt a warm feeling in my chest when I see Izumi happy like that...

* * *

Nurse Sanae came check it to me from time to time. The situation right now is like when Izumi was shot and I stayed with her overnight at the hospital, only this time it is me on the patient's bed and Izumi sat beside me. We all shared some great stories together.

A month passed by with my grandparents visiting me from time to time. Without aunt Reiko, I'm now the only person capable of taking care of them so they need to make sure that their grandson is all right. My friends from Class 3-3 like Naoya, Yuuya, Mei, Yomiya and Yukari also visited me, too.

So far, nothing bad has happened yet.

There's some bad news, though. The doctors informed me that even though Reiko's heart is in perfect health, my life expectancy is shortened because of the heart condition. It's the heart of a mature woman in a young boy's body, so obviously the two doesn't mix very well. The maximum time I had left is forty years, meaning I'll probably die in my fifties.

Well, there's still a long time left...

And with another month passed, I finally got discharged from hospital. My father moved back from India to take care of me and my grandparents.

I went back to school to start my new year as a student in a new Class 3-3. I've met new friends, all of them never heard about the calamity before in their lives, and I'm not planning to tell them. We're getting along just fine, with Izumi checking in on me from time to time to make sure I'm blending in all right.

It's just...a little hard studying in this class without Ms. Mikami...

Eventually, we both started dating, with Mei and Yomiya went on a double date together at the local amusement park one day. We all have a great time.

For once in my life, I finally felt at peace.

Now _this_ is what I've been fighting for. _This_ is the happiness that I've earned.

I shared my first kiss with Izumi on that day...

* * *

One night, I got contacted by the mysterious voice from the future again.

.

.

.

_"Surprise, daddy!"_

_Wha!? Damn it! Stop doing that already!_

_"Teehee, I just love teasing you, dad."_

_So, will you tell me already about this 'daddy' business about? It's been five freaking months you've been out of contact with me!_

_"Sorry, sorry! I just don't wanna ruin the moment between you and Izumi-chan, daddy! You two just looked so cute together!"_

_Not the point! And you didn't feel anything at all seeing your father dated with another woman that isn't your mom?_

_"Not really, dad. You named me after her, remember? I don't have no quarrels with her, seeing that she's the one who motivated you into doing all of this in the first place. Her death gives you the reason to do whatever it takes to stop the calamity. Without that, we wouldn't be here."_

_So, that's that. And what about this 'Dr. Mei Misaki' business? She's the one who made all this 'memories transfer' possible?_

_"Yeah. My mother, your wife, argh, it's weird to describe her like this... Anyways, she was studying her doctor's degree in Physics, probably because she told me she was interested in 'seeing things others couldn't'. She came up the concept of sending memories back into your alternate past selves, in order to experiment on how to create an alternate timeline, where we could change every made decisions without any risks posed to the present or future."_

_You're joking, right? Your mother never seem like someone who's interested in this kind of thing._

_"I don't know. She said she got the 'idea' from her dream, almost ten years ago, I think, telling me that she wanted to fix the mistakes she have made in the past. From then, she devoted herself into studying to become one of the most famous physicist in Japan."_

_Whoa, that's some achievement._

_"Yeah, I became her assistant when I finished high school."_

_Seriously? You must be pretty smart._

_"Not really..."_

_._

_._

_._

_"I...wanted to thank you, dad."_

_What?_

_"For being there for me, helping me whatever I can, even if you're having your own problems yourself. It took tremendous courage to get through what you experienced. All that...slaughter...and you made it pass all of them."_

_I...I thank you, too, for helping me to be here, helping me achieving all of this._

_"Heh, a family must always stick together, right? Like friends do."_

_Yeah._

_"So, it's time I need to go, dad. I'll come visiting, don't worry."_

_Yeah, see you again, Izumi._

_"See you, dad. I love you."_

_Love you too._

_._

_._

_._

* * *

Thirty years later...

"Dr. Sakakibara! Dr. Sakakibara!"

Damn it, and I was having a good nap!

It was Hisao, my assistant, who's also my oldest son.

"What is it, Hisao...I've already fixed the damn computer. It's working fine now!"

"Come on, doctor. I mean, dad! Will you just be cooperative for once!?"

"Heh, looks like your dad never changes, Hisao-kun." Izumi, Hisao's mother and my lovely wife, jokingly said.

"Chill down, Nii-chan. It's not like dad will ended up divide by zero and caused the universe to collapse or anything." Hisako, Hisao's twin sister, said sarcastically.

"And I don't even have a clue of what the heck you all are talking about..." Azumi, my youngest daughter, who's also the only one who didn't study in the field of Physics, said in an annoyed voice.

I lazily got up from my messed up desk. It's been forty freaking years since I've been working on this thing.

I walked to the gigantic machine in the center of the room, with a seat stood right next to it, and a certain black-haired woman with two different eyes sitting on it.

"All right, Mei. You're ready for this?"

Mei just nodded. Heh, as expected from her.

Even after married Yomiyama Misaki, she still retained her old usual quiet feature.

"Target: Mei Misaki, Timeline: 01, Memories loaded completely." She said.

It just clicked in to me all those years ago, after Izumi...my daughter 'Izumi' said that Mei from the original timeline got the idea from her 'dream'. I realized that this must be it. I was born to do this.

I didn't try to mess up the timelines by myself, because well...I might really ended up divide by zero or something.

Let's just leave it for Mei to handle that...

And so I pressed the button.

"You always wanted to see things others couldn't, right, Mei?" I asked her.

She just smiled in response. "I already saw what me and Izumi longed to see in you all these years, Kouichi."

"And what is it, I wonder?"

Mei Misaki slowly closed her eyes. Only one word escaped her tiny mouth.

"Happiness."

* * *

**Editor's note: And so it ends, a story of mind screws and bad grammars LOL.**

**So Kouichi managed to save **_**almost **_**everyone, including all of his friends. The bad news is, he's bound to die before he hits sixty. Damn... And Reiko, Ritsuko, Ryoko are still dead, because their deaths took place before the main story. There's no way we could change that.**

**And about Saving Private Ryan, remember that the story took place in 1998, the same year the movie itself came out in July, so I decided to make it a (somewhat) motivation plot point for Kouichi. It may seem out of place, but...why not!? It's also one of my favorite movies...with all my favorite characters dead...just like Another.**

**I told you this will be bittersweet.**

**It's not the best story, I'll admit. It has some big flaws that I wanted to correct so badly, but then I realized it's time to move on. There's stories I haven't finish yet and it's been a long time since I updated them. So this is the end of it.**

**Thank you for all your reviews, I'm really appreciate it! I promised to write more good stories later! Including both Kouichi x Izumi and Kouichi x Mei shippers because I loved both of them! Maybe even a threesome will work out nicely!**

**See you later!**

**PS. Another and all its original character and source materials belonged to Yukito Ayatsuji, and Saving Private Ryan belonged to Steven Spielberg. I don't own any of them. **


End file.
